If I Were a Boy
by Sheniqua 17
Summary: When Rachel and Puck are forced into doing a duet, they are forced to think maybe they aren't as bad as either one thinks?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so, I have fallen ill with the wondrous Glee epidemic and I must say, I abso-freakin'-lutely love it!!! Especially Puck ^_^ Mmmhmmm, Puck…Sorry, right. And I'm not going to lie, I think he and Rachel would make a cute couple like opposites-attract cute. So, here's my fanfic.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of the characters…but if I did, I would have a certain football player strapped to my bed every night…*coughcough***

Rachel sat crying on the benches next to the football field again. This time she wasn't upset she didn't get the lead or that Puck threw a slushie in her face. She stared out at Finn and saw him talking lovingly with his girlfriend. She was going to be alone forever…or at least until she made it big as a star. She felt grief wash over her again but held back the tears. A few eye drops stung her eyes and she was back at Glee practice. Puck glared at her as Finn came up to talk to her, but today, she noticed he was glaring at Finn too. Rachel shrugged it off and looked up at Finn as he beamed down at her.

"Hey, Rach, what's going on? I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you all day." She sighed and nodded,

"I know, been a little busy." Finn nodded and sat down next to her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Finn cleared his throat again and rubbed his neck, "Hey, um, I'm gonna throw a Halloween party and am inviting everyone from Glee. Do you wanna go?" Halloween wasn't until next weekend. Rachel felt her breath catch in her throat before she nodded,

"Yeah, I'd love to go." Finn beamed at her and nodded. He got up and went back to Quinn who sat away from Santana and Brittany now that they knew about the baby. Rachel felt like she was on cloud 9 as she sat on the uncomfortable metal chairs. That is until Puck flopped in the chair next to her.

"Hey there, freak," he opened with but it was quiet so Finn couldn't hear him, "Now, listen up. You aren't going to go to that party. You're just going to tell Finn you are and then not show up because it's not where you belong." He growled. Rachel wasn't going to lie; she was slightly frightened by Puck. They intense hazel eyes, Mohawk, muscles and ritual slushie to the face had made her jumpy around him.

"Puck, Finn wants all of us from Glee there-."

"Yeah, and I don't mind if the other kids show up, but my boy isn't himself when he's around you." Puck glared at her a little more intensely before Mr. Schuester strode into the room. He then got up and went back to his seat in the back of the room next to Matt and Mike.

"Alright, I've been thinking, and I want to see some mixing up. A lot of you are used to just singing background and I wanna see what you've all got. So, I'm going to mix things up by splitting you off into groups and then we'll have you perform and it'll help me choose some songs in the future." Everyone gave a groan and Rachel buttoned her lip. She really wanted to ream Mr. Schuester. She was supposed to get the solos. But she had decided that her friendship with everyone in Glee was more important than her being number one in everything. Mr. Schuester looked at her surprised, expecting a fight but shook his head and looked back at his clipboard.

"Ok, Mercedes, Santana, Mike and Artie in group one. Brittany, Tina, Matt and Kurt in group two. Quinn, Finn, Rachel and Noah in group three. Okay, here are your songs, and I'll expect you ready to perform next week. Group one on Wednesday, group two on Thursday, three on Friday and I'll announce what I have come up with on Monday. No Glee practice until then. Just work on this." He handed everyone their manila folders and stood by the pianist talking in a low voice with him. Rachel clutched the manila folder and glanced over at Puck who was staring at Mr. Schuester like he was going tackle him. She stood and strode over to Finn and Quinn who were already sitting next to Puck before daintily sitting on the metal chair, she opened the folder and handed out the parts. She held Puck's in the air for a while before he snatched it out of her hand and let a growl out. It was a remix of a song by Beyoncè called, "If I Were A Boy". Rachel faced the paper but her eyes were slanted toward him. While everyone else was planning out when they would meet to rehearse, they were quiet. Finn and Quinn were just as uncomfortable as she was. Rachel finally lost it.

"Ok, I know you have football practice and Cheerio practice, so we should probably rehearse afterwards. We could rehearse here or at my house, I dunno if you want to go to any other house but mine is open and my schedule is open." Puck continued to stare ahead at Mr. Schuester. Finn cleared his throat and nodded,

"Sounds good. Maybe we can go to Quinn's too. We could practice in your basement." Quinn nodded in agreement.

"Okay, we should trade information so we can get ahold of one another." Rachel nodded slowly before she opened her notebook and scribbled something down on a clean piece of paper. She tore it in thirds and handed it to her teammates. It was her cell number and address. Puck felt like crumpling it up and throwing it back at her but he knew that Finn or Mr. Schue would get on his case about it. Finn and Quinn handed her their information and waited for Puck to do so as well. Puck clenched his jaw tightly as he scribbled a number down and handed it back to her. She folded her piece carefully and placed it in a pocket in her bag with the other pieces of paper while Puck shoved his haphazardly into his jeans pocket.

"What do you say to meeting after football here?"

"Uh uh crazy," Mercedes called from her spot further down the music room, "My groups got it. And Tina's group's got the auditorium." Tina nodded. Rachel looked back to the others in the group. Finn sighed and looked at her,

"I can't make it tonight, I got a family thing to take care of." Rachel nodded and looked at Quinn and Puck. Puck looked like he needed to go hurt someone, so she looked at Quinn.

"Quinn, want to meet at my house for rehearsal tonight?" Quinn just nodded.

"Okay. Meet at my house promptly at five. We'll get started and I'll get started on choreography. Puck, you're going to be there too right?" Puck shrugged and let another deep sigh roll from his lungs.

"Fine, whatever." The bell rang shortly after and Puck was out of the room like a bat out of hell. Finn actually had to run to catch up to him. Finn had a small grin on his face as he finally caught up to him.

"Dude, slow down!" He gripped Puck's shoulder and tried to get his legs to slow down. Puck whipped around,

"Why did I have to get paired with the insane chick? Huh, does Mr. Schue hate me?! What the hell did I do to deserve this?" Puck yelled at Finn who was laughing but trying to calm his friend down.

"Puck, really, she's not that bad once you get to know her. Yeah, she's crazy but she can sing like no other, and once she calms down, she can actually be human. Back off and get to know her. And besides that, I'll be in the group too." Puck rolled his eyes, "Try to for me and everyone else in Glee. If she and Quinn can be civil to one another, you guys can too." Puck clenched his jaw until it hurt.

"Fine, but dude, you owe me. And what are you doing with your family?"

"A bachelor party for a cousin." Puck rolled his eyes and started to walk off. Finn nodded and waited until Puck had turned his back before laughing. Puck whipped back around and pointed threateningly at Finn.

"Dude, I am going to seriously hurt you."

**R and R please!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! Thank you so much for all the reviews and I will waste no more of your time! Enjoy! R and R, gracias!**

Rachel sat on her bed, glancing through different routines she had come up with. It was five-thirty and she was seriously getting ready to start calling Puck in five minute intervals until he showed up. Quinn had to reschedule because she had a bout of sickness and was pretty sure she couldn't sing. But Rachel figured she and Finn ditched and they were just coming up with a reason as to not show up. Rachel let out the third loud sigh in the matter of seconds and her black lab puppy, Missy, who had been lying next to her slumbering peacefully, raised its little head to glance at her. She had spent enough time waiting and grabbed up her cell. Just as she punched in the last number, the doorbell rang out. Rachel leapt off of her bed and was down the stair of their house before her dad's had gotten out of their study.

"Don't worry, it's a partner for Glee, I'll get it!" She cried out as she thundered down the stairs and whipped the door open. Puck stood there visibly irritated that he was there and rolled his eyes to her. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared slightly at him,

"You're thirty-three minutes late!"

"You're lucky I showed up at all." He snapped back and Rachel stood aside, letting him step into the immaculate home. He was slightly out of place with the Mohawk, leather jacket, white wife beater, and baggy worn jeans. Okay, he was really out of place. She stalked passed him and started up the stairs. Puck stood there for a moment, contemplating just leaving when she got to the top of the stairs, but he knew Finn would not let him rest until he went to practice with Rachel. Puck sighed and began to follow her up the stairs. He felt his eyes grow wide and he jerked back slightly at all the pink. She was way too preppy. Rachel went to her stereo and sat clicking on it while Puck stood uncomfortably in the doorway.

"Come in and sit down please, you're irritating me." Puck glared at the back of her head, "Stop glaring at me. We need to listen to the song to see what we need to do to make it better." Ignoring the eerie way she knew he was glaring at her, Puck strode into the room and went to the computer chair. He glanced around the room looking at all the awards and pictures. God, this was creepy. He noticed the black mass on the bed and squinted at it. Abruptly, the mass moved and leapt off the bed, bounding over to him and sitting at his feet. Its little head cocked to the side. Puck leaned down and picked up the puppy scratching it gently behind the ears while it sat calmly on his legs.

"Where's Quinn?"

"She had to cancel. She said sickness but," Rachel stopped, she didn't need to share her jealousy with Puck of all people, "never mind."

"What? You don't believe her?" Rachel looked at him and blinked before taking in a breath,"Both she and Finn miss out on a Glee practice. It's a little suspicious is all," was all Rachel said before she turned back to him,

"Do you have your sheet music?" He shrugged at her and blinked. She sighed aggravated and stormed over to her desk. Brushing by him, she grabbed a few sheets of paper and handed him two. "Here." The first few notes started and the song began. Puck had to wait through a verse before the guy's part started.

"Do you want to sing the first verse or the second?"

"Why don't we listen to the whole song first before talking anymore?" He shot at her and Rachel slowly shut her mouth, agreeing. As the last few notes were struck, Rachel jumped up and bounded to the stereo, shutting it off.

"There, sat through the whole song. Do you want the second or first verse? I figured for the chorus both pairs would sing. You can go through and highlight what you want to sing if you want and converse with Finn tomorrow."

"To be honest, I don't want to sing any of it. But, since I have to, I don't want to sing very much." Rachel blinked at Puck's honesty. That's the most he had said to her other than any of the mean jokes and statements that usually circled around her.

"Well, don't you want to get better? The only way you can make something of yourself is if you push yourself to do better." Puck clenched his jaw at that. _Lima-loser_ ricocheted through his mind.

"Fine, here, start it up again." Puck set the puppy on the floor. Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Just start it over." Rachel did and stood next to her bed, watching him as he closed the space between them and throwing off his jacket and grabbed the sheet music.

"_If I were a boy, even just for a day. I'd roll out of bed in the mornin' and put on what I wanted and go. Drink beer with the guys and chase after girls. I'd kick it with who I wanted, and I'd never get confronted for it, 'cause they stick up for me. If I were a boy! I think I could understand! How it feels to love a girl, I swear I'd be a better man! I'd listen to her! 'Cause I know how it hurts. When you lose the one you wanted, 'cause he's takin' you for granted and everything you had got destroyed." _

Puck started his verse, closing the gap even further,

"_If I were a girl, even just for a day. I'd get out of bed in the morning and take forever to get ready. Complain to my friends, as if they got a man. They talk about you 'cause they're jealous, I just stay there, listen to it. I should get rid of them. If I were a girl! I don't think I'd understand! How it feels to love a boy! I swear I'd be a better woman! I'd listen to him, 'cause I don't know where he be! I would also try to tell him, that he needs to treat me better, like I don't gotta change at all! If I were a girl-,"_

_"It's a little too late for you to come back-,"_

_"No,"_

_"Sayin' it was just a mistake, think I'd forgive you like that-,"_

_"I don't,"_

_"If you thought I'd wait for, you thought wrong!"_

_"I been wrong!"_

_"But you're just a boy-,"_

_"And you're just a girl-,"_

_"And you don't understand-," _They sang together for the briefest moment, Rachel taken aback by how well it melded_,_

_"No, you don't understand!" _Rachel broke off again_,_

_"How it feels to love a girl someday, you wish you were a, better man! You don't listen to her!"_

_"And you don't listen to him!"_

_"You don't care how it hurts!"_

_"You don't care how I feel!"_

_"Until you-," _they joined together again_, "lose the one you wanted, 'cause your takin' her for granted, and everything you loved got destroyed!"_

_"But you're just a boy."_

_"And you're just a girl."_

Puck found that he actually liked singing with Rachel. As long as she didn't talk. That is until he noticed how close they were, facing one another. Her chest was pressed up against his torso and their eyes were locked together. Puck blinked and then stepped away from her, going back to the chair to grab his jacket. He grunted at goodbye and left her house quickly. He needed a shower and maybe some alcohol because the freaky shit that just happened was just a bad dream that he wanted to forget. Rachel sat there staring at the door that Puck just stormed through and wondered what the fuzzy feeling in her stomach was. Rachel thought to the first time she heard Finn sing and she had butterflies that made her heart flutter but not this warm fuzz that crawled up her spine and swaddled her brain. She thought back to how hauntingly sad his voice had sounded, and a shiver ran up her spine. Rachel blinked and shut off her stereo before flopping down on her bed. Her heart was pounding,

"That was the single most intense experience I have just encountered. And that includes kissing Finn." She muttered to Missy. The puppy cocked her head at Rachel who flopped back into the bed and rubbed her face vigorously, "But it was Puck! Noah Puckerman! The only reason he does that is to get girls in his bed!" She cried out in a muffled voice. She stopped for a moment and furrowed her eyebrows under her hands, "Does he want me in his bed? Why am I thinking this?! Of course he doesn't want me in his bed! This is all a mind trick to try and get me flustered!" The puppy barked lightly at her and she rolled over onto her stomach. "Oh Missy, what am I doing?" She muttered and the puppy let out a slight whimper before jumping back up onto the bed and curling in a ball at the foot of the bed. Rachel should do homework and probably post another video on Myspace but, she felt physically worn out. Crawling into bed, she curled up in a ball and closed her eyes.

Rachel lay on her bed feeling warm, rough hands run up and down her bare thighs. That was odd, she always slept in something. Shorts or pants or something, but she wasn't wearing anything but a sheer white nightie. The realization this was a dream and she should enjoy it shot through her neurons and she relaxed into the deep chest that pressed against her back. The hand that was running up and down her thigh left and placed itself under her chin, twisting her head around. Finn smiled at her and lowered his lips to hers. Rachel smiled into this kiss. It was warmer and deeper than they had ever kissed before. She noticed something about his kiss changed. His tongue was flicking at her lips and he seemed more aggressive. Even his venturing hands had gotten more courageous. Rachel pulled away and looked at Dream Finn. But it wasn't Finn anymore. Puck lay smirking in his place, before biting his bottom lip and scanning her body. Rachel shot up with more force than she had ever woken from a serious nightmare. Her breath was caught in her throat as she actually shaking from her dream. No way in Hell did she have a crush on Puck! He was the one invading her dreams, not her inviting him into them to ruin her only moments with Finn. Right?

Rachel was so shaken by the dream she didn't want exercise that morning and instead tried to get more sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, there he was, naked in her bed beckoning her to join him. Finally Rachel gave up and hopped on her oliptical. She couldn't focus on the music that played or the sign that said 'Sectional's' on it. Her mind kept wandering to the dream-no, nightmare, that haunted her after their botched practice. She finished later than usual and took a fast shower and rushed to school. The day dragged on before she finally got a chance to talk to Finn while walking to lunch.

"Where were you last night?" She asked earnestly. She wasn't going to accuse him of skipping out and leaving her with the bully who humiliated her and doused her in slushie at least twice a week.

"My cousin had a bachelor's party. Everything went okay didn't it?"

"Yes, Quinn ended up backing out so it was just Puck and I. We sounded really good; maybe Mr. Schuester would consider giving us a duet." Rachel muttered out. Finn's head snapped to look at her as they walked down the hallway.

"Do you want to do a duet with him?" His voice was less than enthusiastic about what she was proposing,

"Well, maybe. I don't know if we could stand to be in the same room as one another for more than an hour, but it did sound good just the two of us." Finn looked back ahead and seemed to be searching deep within the recesses of his mind to think of what to do.

"I think that's a good idea." It was Rachel's turn to whip her head around to look at him. "I mean, Quinn's been feeling really ill lately and I'm really stressed out with school and still not getting a lot of sleep. I'll talk to Mr. Schue. That and it'd get you and Puck some time to get to know one another." Finn nodded enthusiastically and took off toward Mr. Schuester's office. Rachel screwed that up royally. Her attempt at getting Finn jealous and trying harder to be her male lead back fired and now she was stuck doing a duet with Puck. Maybe Mr. Schuester wouldn't listen to Finn and tell him to do the ensemble anyways. Rachel found out, she did not have that kind of luck today. Puck stormed up to her after school in his practice gear for football, which consisted of a sleeveless grey shirt and shorts, and slammed his hand against the lockers next to hers.

"What the hell did you say to Finn? He and Quinn are out of the group now!" Rachel blinked before a fury she had never felt before rose in her gut. She was not going to be bitched out by Puck of all people. She was already mad at herself for the plan backfiring and being yelled at by _Noah Puckerman_ wasn't helping.

"I _said_ you and I sounded good as a duet and I would want to do a duet with you. He took that as an invitation to back out of the group with Quinn. I did _not_ tell him to back out, do you _think_ I want to be stuck doing a duet with the boy who has made my life quite intolerable some days and amusing other days at his undeniable stupidity?" Rachel was furious that Finn and Quinn had backed out and Puck was taken aback by it. His eyes were wide and he was leaning back slightly,"Okay," was all he muttered out.

"Practice tonight in the auditorium at five. Don't be late!" She snapped out and stormed off flouncing slightly. Puck watched her with an eyebrow raised; his eyes seemed to fixate on the edges of her skirt as they flicked up higher and higher until she rounded the corner of the hallway leaving him alone. Puck had never seen Rachel Berry mad. It was kinda scary how fast she snapped and then acted like it never happened. Did she say she wanted to do a duet with him? Puck showed up a little after five because Tanaka had made him run laps after practice for being late. Rachel stood on the stage moving in intricate patterns. The door slammed shut behind him and she stopped, whipping around to look at him. She turned fully and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot slightly,

"Thank you for gracing me with your presence five minutes late." She called out and he sneered back at her as he jumped up the steps to the stage,

"You're welcome." She rolled her eyes and went to the piano, pulling out sheets of paper.

"Here's my idea for the choreography." Rachel handed him the papers while she started to count and go over the moves. Puck followed using the sheets of paper and her instructions. After a few moments, the papers as well as his jacket lay on the piano, the music playing and Rachel going through the steps too quickly for Puck to follow.

"Puck, if you can't keep up, we're going to lose!" She yelled at him for the fifth time in the span of one song.

"Then do it as a solo!" He yelled back throwing his hands up in the air. Rachel stopped too,

"You need to watch what I do and try to follow. I'm teaching you your part; I'm not even going over my part!" She yelled back.

"Why do we even need all this dancing, it's not a dancing song." He pointed at the boom box. Rachel crossed her arms and blinked at him,

"It's Glee. There's going to be some form of choreography for every song we do!" Puck rolled his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. Rachel stormed over and stopped the music. "Let's take a break so you can go over your steps and rest." Puck glared at her slightly but he agreed and sat down on the piano bench, snatching up the paper to look over it.

"Why did you say we'd make a good duet?" He called to Rachel who stood on the other side of the piano. She looked up at him and blinked,

"I-I…just remembered last night and we sounded very compatible. Kind of like Finn and I." Puck raised his eyebrow but nodded slowly. "What was that look?" She furrowed her eyebrows at him. Puck scratched his cheek and looked at her with feigned innocence.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Was he actually flirting with her? What the hell was wrong with him? Puck turned his eyes back to the paper and he looked over the ridiculous steps.

"We should get back to practicing. Let's start from when you come in." Puck shrugged but didn't move from his seat. Rachel raised an eyebrow at him and he eventual joined her. They were able to practice for another half hour before the Principal Figgins showed up and kicked them out so the AA meeting could start. Puck glanced at all the fathers and husbands in the group and wondered if any of them knew his father. A few of them watched the two as they left and one leered at Rachel after she walked by. Puck had the urge to punch him square in the face for that look, but why the hell was he sticking up for Rachel Berry? Finn was right, she wasn't horrible but she still made him want to light himself on fire or go play in traffic. They went to the parking lot and Puck started to make his way to his truck. Rachel pulled out her pink cellphone and flipped it open, punching numbers.

"I can give you a ride if you want." He called over to her from his truck. It was old, the paint was chipping off, it only had a bench seat and sometime in the winter, the heater didn't want to work, but it was reliable to get him from point a to point b. Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at him, contemplating whether it was a trick or not. After a few moments, she snapped her phone shut but kept it in her hand and made her way to him. Clambering in, she sat uncomfortably in the cab, waiting for something bad to happen. But Puck merely started up the noisy engine and pulled out of the parking lot. The ride was awkward, tense and deadly quiet even though the engine was making a terrible racket and his stereo which was blaring classic rock filled the air. Puck pulled up next to her house and put the car in park. Rachel got out of the cab and looked at him like she should say something. But for the first time in Rachel Berry's life, she didn't know what to say.

"You're welcome." Puck murmured. Rachel blinked and cleared her throat,

"Thank you for the ride home Puck, it was very…thoughtful." She never thought she would use the words 'Puck' and 'Thoughtful' in the same sentence but, there's a first time for everything. Puck gave a nod and she slammed the rusty door shut before briskly making her way in to the two story house. Puck was always raised to wait until the person you were dropping off made it safely into their home and he did with Rachel. He found it slightly amusing when she had given Finn and him her address; they knew where her house was they had egged it enough times. As Puck waited for Rachel to get to her front door, he found his eyes wandering up and down her backside. He twisted his head away and mentally smacked himself at the thoughts that lingered in his mind. He needed to get a girlfriend; he was having thoughts about Rachel Berry. That is the first sign of going insane.

**Alright, I know Puck is really, well, douchebaggie, but he kinda needs to be for the plot, so if you're really hating on him right now, don't worry, it will get better! But I see him as pretty tough egg to crack, so give it time; he (hopefully) will open up if my storyline goes to plan. Thanks again!**

**P.S. Sorry about uploading and then deleting, I saw a mistake and I had to fix it because it didn't make sense whatsoever!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH for all the reviews! Here's Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 which I wrote as one big chunk but decided to split up. Hope you enjoy! R & R!**

Rachel found it quite easy to get along with Puck at school after that practice in the auditorium; he seemed to have calmed down with the personal attacks as long as she didn't talk too much. Rachel also found that Santana was giving her more personal death glares than usual. She didn't know why the fiery Cheerio was angry with her because she had been with Puck a lot of the time after school; she had been the one to break up with him. But other than that, most thing were normal. Rachel sat on the football stands after school on Wednesday after a day slushie free; she was watching as Finn made an excellent pass to Puck who ran to the endzone with other players trailing behind him. The team had excelled greatly since Kurt joined up and Mr. Schuester had gotten them to loosen up. Puck and Finn especially. It had even gotten Puck, Mike and Matt to join Glee. Rachel heard the blow of Coach Tanaka's whistle signaling the end of practice and Finn jogged over to Quinn, throwing his arm over her shoulder and giving her a kiss on the forehead. Rachel glanced at Puck and noticed him shaking his head while staring at the two before jogging off the field with the rest of the players. She sighed and made her way down the bleachers. She knew what was going through his mind; she had done it enough times she could tell. Puck had a thing for Quinn, then again, what guy didn't. Rachel sat in the auditorium after practically begging Mercedes to let her have it for a half hour. Mercedes finally conceded after some begging and a fifty dollar bribe. Rachel didn't know how she was going to pay for gas after school today since she didn't even have enough to get home but, she figured this was more important. Puck showed up with fifteen minutes into their allotted time and furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"I thought today we were taking a break?" he asked as he stepped up onto the stage. She had sent him a text asking him to meet her in the auditorium after football. She sat on the piano bench going over simple chords when he asked her and she turned to look at him and shrugged,

"I figured we could talk and collaborate on some things. I realized I hadn't given you a chance to express any of your concerns or ideas." He raised his eyebrows and smirked,

"Every things fine, I gotta go now, so-,"

"Puck, do you have a crush on Quinn?" She blurted it out and couldn't stop herself. The smirk fell from his face and Puck licked his lips,

"Quinn is Finn's girlfriend-,"

"I saw you looking at them today after practice,"

"So you're stalking me now? What tired of trying to lure Finn away from his pregnant girlfriend?"

"No!" Rachel stood and stormed to the edge of the stage, "Forget I even mentioned it. I thought you might be somewhat human, but I guess not!" Rachel usually tried to take people's feelings into count when she wasn't talking drama, theater or Glee with them, but she was tired of Puck's brashness. She grabbed up her bags and went to the stairs that Puck was still blocking, "Excuse me, _Puck, _I'm trying to leave so I can go stalk Finn." She all but hissed out. He still didn't move so she pushed by him. As she did, Puck grabbed her arm and held her there,

"I'm sorry," he growled out almost inaudibly. She looked up at him with wide eyes; Did Noah Puckerman just _apologize_ to her?

"What?" she felt the word fall from her lips, his eyes rolled over to hers and he growled out the words again. "Oh, okay," was all she could breathe out. She stood there for a moment before backing away from him. His hand slipped from her arm and she set her bag on the floor.

"Apology accepted." She licked her lips and refused to make eye contact with him. "So, do-?"

"I'm not going to answer it if you ask me again. The dancing and music's fine." He turned and stomped down the steps. He was gone in a matter of moments and Rachel again felt breathless and physically tired from their encounter. And all they did was argued! She grabbed up her heavy bags again and left the auditorium. She was halfway across the parking lot after setting her bags in her car and locking the doors and setting the alarm, when she heard the rumble of an engine pull up next to her,

"Hey Rach, need a ride?" Finn called from the blue station wagon his mom usually drove. She smiled politely at him and nodded,

"Thank you Finn." She muttered as she buckled her seat.

"Sure! Why aren't you taking your car?"

"Oh, I don't have enough fuel to get home so, I was going to head home to get money."

"And then what? Walk back to school, get your car and drive to the gas station?" Rachel nodded; she didn't see what was wrong with that. Finn shook his head and gave a small laugh. That cute small laugh he usually did when they were the only ones around. Rachel wondered briefly if he laughed that way around Quinn. They arrived at her house shortly after,

"I'll wait and drive you back." Rachel smiled at him and ran into her house, grabbing the small first edition of A Tale of Two Cities from her dad's bookshelf in their study. They kept extra bills in there for emergencies. Rachel left her father's a note explaining what happened and how much she took and ran back out of the house. The parking lot was fairly deserted by the time they had gotten back. Rachel thanked Finn again and leapt out of his car, heading to hers. She only had a short amount of time to get to the gas station and back home before they started playing West Side Story on her favorite TV channel. She opened up her car but before she hopped in her pink flip phone buzzed. Rachel flipped open her phone and didn't recognize the number. It was an address with a time on it. She furrowed her eyebrows at it and glanced around; there was practically no one else around other than teacher's cars. She got in her car and peered curiously at her phone. The number looked familiar but it didn't have a name with it. Rachel shut her phone and set it in her bag, her eyebrows still furrowed as she pulled out of the parking lot and began the short drive to the gas station. Her mind kept landing on the text as she filled her tank. It could be a trick to try and get her to go to a house and be humiliated, yet again. But she would never know unless she actually went. She always kept a clean set of clothes in her car and her phone was fully charged. She also kept a roll of quarters in her car in case it needed to be cleaned because of eggs. Rachel decided it would be worth going to investigate. That and she did own West Side Story on DVD and VHS.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, here's the second half of the third chapter. R & R!! **

Rachel drove to the address and found herself away from all the new developments and in front of a small one story house. It had been painted white except some of the paint was chipping. It was surrounded by a chain link fence and there were some kid's toys sitting in the patched yard. A beautiful garden sat in front of the house though filled with rosebushes. Rachel got out of her car and set the alarm. She noticed Puck's truck sitting across the street and the small driveway held an old maroon Corolla. She stepped carefully up the concrete steps and knocked on the door. She had ignored the time on the text especially since it was about fifteen minutes late. A woman answered the door with a little boy in her arms. She had dark curly hair, tan skin and dark eyes. The little boy had lighter skin and short black hair that fell into his dark eyes. Before Rachel could introduce herself, Puck's mother, she assumed, stood aside with a kind warm smile,

"Come in, come in. Micah, go get Noah," She let the little boy down who ran to a door and called down,

"Noah! Your girlfriends here!" There was a thump against the wall as though something was thrown and Micah slammed the door shut, running back to their mom.

"Micah! That was uncalled for! You need to apologize to your brother. I'm Diana, Noah's mother by the way."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Puckerman, my name's Rachel Berry. I'm in Glee Club with P-Noah." Rachel decided his nickname in front of his mother was too informal for how kind she was being.

"Please, call me Diana." Puck's mom waved at Rachel. Rachel beamed at the kind woman as thundering footsteps echoed from behind the door that Micah had yelled down and Puck emerged from the room behind the door. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised,

"'M sorry Noah," Micah called from around their mother. He went to his little brother and rubbed his head, messing up the mop of hair.

"It's okay Mikey. C'mon Berry." He turned to leave until his mother grabbed his ear with probably a death grip,

"Noah Puckerman, what did you say to this young lady?" His mouth was open in pain and his eyebrows furrowed,

"Sorry mom. Please follow me, Rachel." His mother let go of her grip and Puck straightened; she was a good foot shorter than him. Rachel held back her triumphant grin and smiled politely at Puck's mom,

"It was so nice to meet you Diana." She smiled back and nodded before bustling back into the kitchen. His house was small compared to hers. Tiny, actually, but it was just as immaculate. Rachel followed Puck to the door he emerged from and was surprised to find a staircase. A rubber baseball sat on one of the steps so she had to assume that it was what was thrown at his younger brother. Going down the first few steps, the walls gave way to an open room covered in bad posters and a few old grungy guitars hung on the walls. The floor was littered in magazines, clothes and papers. Along with some clothes that would clearly not fit him or a style he would wear. Rachel peered cautiously at a pair of lacy pink underwear before stepping over them and continued to look around. He had a desk that was pretty empty other than a laptop and his bed was merely a box spring and mattress sitting on the floor. It was covered in a simple white fitted sheet and a white flat sheet sat rumpled on top of it. An acoustic guitar leaned against the bed, which Puck grabbed and flopped on his bed.

"By the way, thank you for showing up on time.

"Your welcome," she shot back before crossing her arms over her chest, "So why did you need to leave me an ominous text with no name? Tired of me only stalking Finn?" He let a tired laugh out before sniffing and rolling his eyes,

"I thought maybe we could come up with a truce. I…" he sighed and licked his lips while strumming slightly on the guitars strings, "I enjoy singing with you even though you're a pain in my ass. And I'm tired of whenever we do get a chance to practice and end up yelling at one another without a real reason to. So, truce?" He didn't make eye contact with her the entire time he spoke and he continued to fiddle with the guitar strings. Rachel still stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Okay, on a few conditions. One, you start being civil towards me and the other Glee clubbers."

"I already am to the other Glee freaks." He muttered and Rachel sighed,

"Fine, you start being civil towards _me_. Two, no more ritual slushies. Three, start to contribute to the duet. If we're going to win we need to work together."

"I thought that if you did it, you couldn't lose?" Puck shot out, staring up at her. Rachel lifted her chin up as a defense and Puck stared at the length of her neck, before mentally slapping himself again,

"We will. But if you don't give any effort, it's pointless. I know you don't like to dance but…tough. You have to for this song." Puck bounced slightly with a short single laugh. She was really on a roll with this new found confidence around him. He shrugged and nodded,

"Okay, but if you get to dish out rules, I get to dish them out too." Rachel blinked at him but nodded. Flipping up his pointer finger he started, "You don't talk unless it's absolutely necessary, you don't ask me questions unless it's about the song or dancing, and don't yell at me for sucking. This is my first time doing anything close to this, other than for…fun." By fun, he meant girls. And Rachel knew. He could tell by the way she rolled her eyes heavily.

"Fine, but I don't see how this will solve anything, I mean, we're just setting terms and conditions and Finn said-,"

"Berry, you're already breaking my first and second rule! Seriously?" Rachel looked at him with wide eyes,

"You're being ridiculous! How did I break the second rule?"

"Right there." He pointed at her while setting the guitar down in its case and standing. Rachel huffed out a breath and glared at him. She turned and began to storm up the stairs,

"Where're you going?" She looked at him with venom seeping from her pores before continuing up the stairs. Puck chased after her and caught up with her outside, _'Damn she was fast for as small as she was'_. "Rachel!" He grabbed her arm and she whipped around looking at him.

"I thought you said you didn't want me talking unless it was necessary and you and I have different perspectives on necessary, so what do you want it to be?" She bore holes into his skull as he was taken back, yet again.

"Fine, I'll change that rule. Don't talk as much." She smiled triumphantly at him and stuck out her hand. Puck looked at it and raised his eyebrow, quizzically.

"We should shake on it to make it official." Rachel answered his questioning look. Puck looked at her hand again and then glanced around. He slapped his palm to her and shook it. She had a tight grip but it wasn't like she was trying to emasculate him and her skin was undeniably soft. She let go and flounced off to her car. Puck stood out there, his hands in his pockets, waiting until she pulled away from the curb before going inside. He could see his brother peeking out through the shades. The sad thing was his mother was standing above him doing the same thing. By the time Puck entered the house, his mother was back in the kitchen and his brother was on the couch watching cartoons. Puck went into the kitchen and looked at his mom. She had the slightest hint of a smile pulling at her mouth as she focused on seasoning the steaks Puck was going to probably end up barbequing. His mom looked up at him and smiled innocently,

"She was nice, are you two dating? Much better than that Santana girl, I'm sorry but it bugs me when a girl comes over, looks around and leaves like she deserves better. I hate to say it but I was quite happy when-,"

"Mom, Rachel and I aren't dating, aren't ever going to date and I'm ashamed you even thought of it. She's from Glee and we're doing a duet together, that's all." His mom got a cold look on her face briefly, before handing him the plate with the steaks on it.

"Well, she's nice either way. Now, hurry up, I have the graveyard shift tonight." Puck nodded and went outside to the crappy old barbeque his father had left. His dad had pretty much left everything. He just disappeared after withdrawing all of his college funds and their savings. Puck flopped the slabs of meat onto the blackened grill while thinking spitefully toward his father. Puck remembered sometimes he'd come home reeking of alcohol and slap his mom and hit him. But then it stopped because he wouldn't make it home on the nights he drank, then he barely came home at all, then all their money was gone, his father was gone and his baby brother had just been born. Mom was heartbroken and went into a depression, leaving Puck and Micah with their grandmother, who coincidentally lived next to Finn. Puck swore he would never end up like his father when he saw his mother after he left; a husk of the woman she had been. Then after years, she realized, it wasn't her fault and it took a while, but everything slowly settled back into place. Puck wasn't going to lie; he was actually seriously hurt from Quinn. Yeah, it was a real douchbag move to have sex with his best friends girl, but she didn't say no either. He didn't want his kid growing up not knowing his real father. And now that that Berry chick was in the picture, everything was getting really messed up. Puck could tell Finn wanted to be with Rachel and Quinn could see it too. But she still loved Finn. That's why she hated Puck. Especially now. Puck could see why Quinn would be threatened by Rachel; she was multitalented and would probably be the most successful out of anyone to come from Lima. He also couldn't deny that she was pretty hot, she had an amazing body and took care of herself, had soft hair that wasn't always held back in a tight ponytail and he just noticed today, she had really soft skin. Puck rubbed his face roughly; he needed a girlfriend. He thought back to what his mother had said about Santana and had to agree, she had asked him to drive her home after she had only been in his house for a few minutes. And then after that, they only hung out at her house. And then she dumped him because his credit score sucked. He didn't even have a credit card! Puck sighed and remembered back to the first night of rehearsals, the way Rachel had looked when she was singing. He had never gotten to actually sing with her and it was pretty good; she was right, he felt himself pushing to be better. And then after the song had ended and how close they were. She was really warm…which made him grow warm. Puck rolled his eyes as he poked at the steaks and cut them to see how much they had cooked. God he needed to hang out with just the football guys, hanging around Kurt had made him soft. Hopefully, he wasn't going too soft and started to hit on guys. He shivered at the thought. Pulling the steaks off the grill, he made his way back into the house and got his little brothers meal ready first. Cutting up slices of the well cooked meat and a spoonful of Mac and Cheese and his little brother sat happily munching away with his mom. He joined them after a moment and kept finding his mind wandering to Rachel and what he had been thinking about outside. Maybe this is why Finn kept hanging out with her. She really could mess a guy up if she had enough time alone with him.

**Thank you so much again for all the R & R's! I also figured I should have some Puck time so you know what's going on in that interesting little head of his! ^_^ **


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, thanks to everyone and all the reviewing is greatly appreciated!!! ^_^ and I'm not going to lie, I totally forgot what I was going to say! Other than I'm uploading this before I need to hop on a bus to get to classes, which is going to suck but eh! Life goes on. R & R, thank you!**

Rachel slept like a baby that night and had a wonderful dream with Finn with no interruptions from Puck. But when she woke, she felt almost guilty about dreaming of Finn. During her rigorous exercise, she couldn't help but think of Puck's little brother and mom. They had been kind and friendly towards her even though Puck had probably told them about her. And he probably neglected to mention the slushies to the face. She got off of her oliptical and wandered practically aimlessly into her bathroom. Was it just a façade or were they actually that friendly toward strangers? She made it to school extra early that morning and made her way to the library to do some extra homework. But nothing got done. She sat with her pencil in her hand and it placed on the bare sheet of paper but her mind wandered to Puck, again. He was seriously screwing her up. She wasn't exercising properly and now she couldn't even focus on homework. Usually Finn was the only one who could fluster her this bad but Puck…He did something else. Rachel let out a breath, she needed to get away from the library; it was too quiet for her wandering mind. Rachel packed up her things and left. Sitting in the music room, Rachel blared 'If I Were a Boy' on her iPod while she flipped through more sheet music. She closed her eyes after a few moments into the song and thought back to their first practice. That is until the door slammed shut. Rachel jumped and whipped around. Mercedes looked at her with an eyebrow raised and a smile tugging at her lips.

"You guys got this song? Huh, we got this one in the bag," Mercedes and Rachel rubbed each other the wrong way when it came to Glee but they could usually get along pretty well. Rachel lifted her head higher as she gathered up her papers and replaced them in the correct folders,

"Mercedes, try not to feel threatened by the fact that Puck and I can connect on a deeper level to create a quite amazing duet that you and your group couldn't possibly imagine." Rachel smiled smugly at her friend, whose jaw dropped,

"Are you and Puck…?" Mercedes peered cautiously at Rachel. Once Rachel realized what she was implying, her own jaw dropped,

"Mercedes! I cannot even believe you are suggesting that _Noah Puckerman_ and I have had any sexual relations! It's slanderous!" Rachel cried out, huffily putting the folders back into their box, "I-I…I have no words to say to you!" she stormed from the room, headed directly to her first period classroom. She silently hoped that Mercedes would leave it alone and not talk to anyone else in Glee about it. Her words were getting her in trouble. Again, today, she didn't have luck on her side and Santana and Brittany approached her after lunch while she was at her locker. Brittany wasn't as bad as Santana or as bad as Quinn _had_ been, but she still followed the other two Cheerios like they were Gods. Santana on the other hand, was volatile. She strode up to Rachel and peered down her nose at her, her face tight with anger.

"You need to stop spreading rumors to make seem like people like you Rachel Berry; it could get you in trouble." She murmured to her in a threatening voice.

"I didn't spread the rumor. Something I said was taken out of context and that was spread as a rumor. It was just a misunderstanding that can be easily forgotten, if one chose to ignore it ever happened." Rachel tried to talk Santana down. Finn strode up next to her and gently grabbed her arm,

"Hey, Rach, can I talk to you in private?" Rachel knew what this was going to be about and nodded, reluctantly. At least it was better than getting torn to shreds by Santana. He led her away from the Cheerios and after they had found a fairly deserted hallway, stopped and turned,

"Um, Rach, I just heard that you and Puck-,"

"It's just a misconstruction! I said something to Mercedes and worded it terribly wrong and now everyone is going to think and Puck and I are doing something I think neither of us ever _wants_ to do with one another, _ever_! And then Puck is going to get pissed at me for something I didn't mean to do and it's just going to be fodder for all of the people who spread rumors about me and-," tears had bubbled up the more Rachel rambled on. Her emotions ran rampant too quickly for Finn to react. And he ended up standing there for a moment watching her as she broke down and sprinted away from him. Finn stood there for a moment blinking and wondering what the hell had just happened. As he began to walk to his class, which was going on right now, Puck rounded the corner and he was out for blood. Finn moved to cut him off,

"Dude, calm down," he grabbed Puck's shoulders and braced himself to stop his friend, "I just talked to her, it was a big mis…mis…" _Dammit, he couldn't remember the word she had used,_ "The filter between her brain and mouth stopped working and she said something that was taken the wrong way." Puck looked at his friend in the eyes,

"Dude, get out of my way." Finn still didn't move and kept his grip on Puck's shoulders.

"Puck, she's really broken up over this, she just kinda freaked out a moment ago and I dunno where she went. But I think she needs some time before you freak out on her." Puck blinked at his friend.

"Get out of my way." He repeated. Finn knew Puck wouldn't hurt Rachel, physically, but he really didn't want Rachel hurt emotionally anyways. He had done enough of that in the past week. Finn licked his lips and finally stepped aside. Puck brushed by Finn and continued storming down the hall.

Rachel sat on the edge of the auditorium stage sobbing. She was emotionally drained and now this rumor was going to haunt her. It was bad enough she was continually harassed online when she posted videos. But she had also been egged, had her house and car egged, had slushies thrown on her, had pornographic pictures of her drawn on bathroom walls and numerous other things. Rachel felt another sob rack her body as she brought her legs up and wrapped her arms protectively around them. The last thing she needed was for her friends in Glee to spread rumors about her even though her undesired ability to form impressionable sentences was also to blame. She heard the door to the auditorium slam and she knew it was either Puck or Finn. Or maybe, if she was lucky Mr. Schuester, but lately, her luck had been a little dry. She heard the person go up the steps and stop next to her. She managed to stop the sobbing and she turned to find Puck staring at her, he had squatted down so they were eye level with one another and he was furious. But what she didn't know was that Puck hated seeing girls cry. He didn't know what the hell to do with them when they started to cry and ended up making them cry harder. Rachel waited a few moments and took in a shaky breath,

"I'm sorry. I said something that Mercedes took out of context. I tried to convince her that she was wrong but she must of that I was being defensive-,"

"This is one of those moments where rule one would have worked." Puck cut her off in a soft voice. He was still furious but seeing her cry like that when he had first walked in reminded him of his mom. The nights when she'd cry herself to sleep. Puck leaned back and sat down next to her, but he didn't touch her or say anything else. Rachel let her legs fall back down and she sat there in silence.

"Are you done crying?" he muttered after a few moments. He actually didn't know what he was going to do now. He had planned on an argument but the crying threw that off. It always did and girls knew that; that's why they always cried when he'd talk to them. And that's why he usually broke up with them. He glanced at her and noticed the tears still welling in her eyes and the fact that she was shaking while trying to hold the sobs back. Rachel finally let the tears win over again and she thumped her head against his shoulder and cried harder than ever. He sat there for a moment like an idiot before rubbing her back uncomfortably. As she cried into his chest, Puck thought back to all the nasty things he and the other football players had done to her. He had never thought of her as, well, human. But seeing her cry like this made him feel guilty. That and she smelled really good. Rachel felt the tears begin to subside and the urge to cry begin to waiver. She sniffed and realized that she, Rachel Berry, was being comforted by Puck. She took in another shaky breath and pulled away from him, looking slightly at the wet splotches on his shirt.

"I'm really sorry," she said again in a small voice. Puck merely pushed himself off of the stage edge and pulled off his shirt. The wifebeater underneath rose up to his chest and flashed Rachel plenty of tanned muscle. She had always known Puck to be in great physical shape but why did it make her blush. Thankfully, her cheeks had been flushed enough from crying that he wouldn't notice. Puck pulled down the wifebeater and looked at her,

"We're still practicing tonight your place at five, right?" Rachel nodded and Puck turned and left the auditorium without another word to her. Rachel had been surprised; both at herself and Puck. She was usually pretty good about keeping her emotions under wraps and Puck had never really shown even the slightest bit of affection toward her. Maybe Mr. Noah Puckerman was more human than Rachel thought. She sniffed a bit more and noticed she could still smell him. Putting drops in her eyes, Rachel regained her composure and left the auditorium for the last class of the day.

**Okay's, showing a bit more emotional stuff and I figure these two probably haven't seen much of each other outside of school. Ya get a little more insight into Puck and he gets more insight into Rachel, who has defenses up but sometimes they're going to fall. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for all the reviews and alerts! I know I usually upload these pretty late at night but that's the life of a college student for you. I also noticed that I have mentioned humanity and being human in the last few chapters and I guess that's because I assume these two have only seen they way they act at school and heard stories and rumors. I also apologize for making Mercedes a b****. I didn't mean to , I just figured something probably happened like in The Rhodes Not Taken and they had a little pow-wow and I also figured that Santana wouldn't like the thought of her ex hooking up with a Gleek… Needless to say, Mercedes will redeem herself! Anyways, on with the story! (btw R & R ^_^) **

After the torturous school day had come to an end, Rachel all but sped home and flew into her house. Her Myspace page was crammed full of hateful comments and messages and someone had hacked her page again and wrote some mean things on her biography. Deleting the whole page, she easily had another one set up in moments, with a harder password. Rachel sighed as she clicked through her iTunes and searched for a song. Music was usually viewed as an outlet to several performers and Rachel had to agree, it definitely helped. Finding a song, she hit play and began to sing along to the song.

"_Although you think I cope  
My head is filled with hope  
Of some place other than here  
Although you think I smile  
Inside and all the while  
I'm wondering about my destiny_

I'm thinking about  
All the things  
I'd like to do  
In my life

I'm a dreamer  
A distant dreamer  
Dreaming far away from today

Even when you see me frown  
My heart won't let me down  
Because I know there's better things to come  
And when life gets tough  
And I feel I've had enough  
I hold on to a distant star

I'm thinking about  
All the things  
I'd like to do  
In my life

I'm a dreamer  
A distant dreamer  
Dreaming far away from today  
I'm a dreamer  
A distant dreamer  
Dreaming far away from today  
Yeah I'm a dreamer!" Rachel felt the last word fall from her lips and she sighed. Missy had clambered up their high staircase and floppily ran into her room. Rachel picked the puppy up and carried her to the queen sized bed with her. She'd just close her eyes, just for a moment.

Puck found himself actually walking up the steps to the Berry house at exactly five. Wondering slightly what the hell was wrong with him as he hit the doorbell; Puck wondered if Rachel was doing better. Before he could curse at himself for thinking that way, the door opened and he was met by a scrawny man with balding hair.

"Hello, you must be Noah Puckerman." The man stepped aside and beckoned Puck in, "Come in, come in! My name is Dan, by the way." Puck gave a nod to him and shook his hand, "Rachel's been up in her room all afternoon, so just go on up. I assume you know what door it is?" Puck nodded and started to head up the stairs. Maybe she wasn't feeling better and if she wasn't Puck knew they probably wouldn't get any rehearsal done today. He knocked softly on the white door and opened it. Rachel lay sprawled on her bed, the soft skin of her belly peeking out from under her shirt as she twisted and snuggled deeper into the pink and white comforter. Puck shut the door and made his way to shake her awake. As he neared the bed though, he felt himself freeze at the soft whimpers that escaped her parted lips. He was almost certain he heard his name. Her puppy shot up at the sight of him and yipped. Rachel, too, shot up and looked around while smoothing her hair and blinking her eyes,

"Oh, Puck, I'm sorry, I must have dozed off. Let's get started," She sat up and adjusted her shirt before getting off of her bed and wandering over to her stereo. Puck watched her, blinking, he could have sworn he had heard his name. "Puck?" she called from her spot.

"Huh?" he looked at her. She raised her eyebrows at him and motioned for him to join her.

"We need to practice harmonizing our parts and then we can get started tomorrow on combining the choreography with the singing. We have to get started on this right away so we can get ahead of the other groups. Don't you want to win and sing this at Regional's, because to be frank, I do?" Puck felt aggravation rise in his gut and overrun the weird feelings he had felt earlier when she muttered his name in her sleep. He walked over to her and shrugged. It was awkward for him but she seemed to have no idea what had happened. After an hour of practicing, Puck's throat was dry and raw from nonstop singing and then yelling at one another over pointless things. He had continued to fight having to dance in the duet and Rachel was adamant on keeping the choreography in. She started up the song again but as Puck went to enter, his voice caught and he ended up practically coughing a lung up. Rachel threw her sheet music on her bed although he didn't know why she needed it; she never looked at it during practice. She grabbed his wrist tightly, while he was still coughing and hauled him downstairs and into a large kitchen. She poured a glass of water from the water filter and practically shoved it into his hands. He took a grateful drink, the water burning his throat before he cough and muttered out,

"I still don't want any dancing." Rachel turned; her mouth open ready to argue, "You said you wanted me to help with this. I'm trying. I think I can come up with better choreography than what you already have." Rachel's mouth snapped shut and she blinked at him.

"Oh really?" She didn't sound impressed by his statement and was actually turning red. He was pretty sure it was out of embarrassment. "Well, Noah Puckerman, I'd like to see you try. Do you think you can magically work something up by tomorrow?" It was a challenge. Puck knew it. And yet, he practically worshipped the feeling that ripped through his body. He stared her in the eyes and nodded,

"I'll even have it written up."

Rachel stood in the auditorium anxiously awaiting Puck and his choreography that he thought was better than hers. A smirk raised the edges of her lips as she thought about how after he accepted her challenge; he left with a big goofy smile on his face. She instantly wiped the smile off of her face and looked around. No one was around, so they hadn't seen her reminiscing about her and Puck. Of course, they couldn't read her thoughts so they wouldn't know what she was thinking of, but the fact of the matter is that they would have caught her a moment of weakness and that was unacceptable.

"Rachel!" She whipped around to find Mercedes looking at her exasperatedly. "Jeez, girl, where were you?" Rachel opened and closed her mouth for a moment before Mercedes held her hand up, "Never mind. I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was talking to Kurt about what you had said and Santana overheard…and kinda threw a chair, then stormed off and it exploded from there."

"But, everyone in Glee knew before the rest of the school…and it went from there. That means someone else from Glee had to have spread the rumor." Rachel wasn't sure if she wanted to accept Mercedes apology. Sure it was an accident and she knew Mercedes was sorry, but people were whispering about her in the lunch room even more and would yell things now like, "Easy" or "Slut". Even though Puck had probably been with more girls than most of the male population of William McKinley High School combined. Mercedes sighed and crossed her arms,

"I-," she stopped her words short and Rachel turned to see Puck walking up the stairs to the auditorium, "I'm sorry, Rachel. Do you forgive me?" Rachel stood there for a moment, between Mercedes and Puck before looking at Mercedes and nodding,

"Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't forgive you for a mistake?" Mercedes gave her a sad smile and turned before bustling out of the auditorium. Rachel turned back to Puck; who stared at her with an eyebrow cocked,

"Well, Puck, did you create a better choreography routine than I could ever come up with even though my years of training outnumber the actual amount of relationships you've been in?" Damn she was witchy right now. Puck furrowed his eyebrows before glaring at her,

"Listen Berry, I'm doing this to help our little duet. I could just as easily follow your ridiculous dance moves and screw it up in the end. And don't be bitchy to me just because you have to be a nice person to someone who hurt you." Rachel felt her mood switch as he called her out on it. He was right; she didn't want to accept Mercedes apology, but she knew that Glee was better when the members weren't fighting.

"You're right, I'm sorry." She easily conceded and let her bristly attitude fall away. Puck pulled out some notebook paper that was slightly crumpled like it had been shoved to the bottom of his bag to hide it from his friends. He handed her the papers and swallowed like he was actually nervous.

"Okay, um, let's start up the music and I'll walk you through it." He was giving her a cocky grin and Rachel raised her eyebrow at him, but agreed. Rachel had to admit; Puck did a really good job with the choreography. It was simple steps and not really any dancing but Rachel realized that there could be a lot of intensity added into it easily without overloading the routine. As they finished going through the routine for the third time, Puck was smirking at Rachel.

"What?" He merely cocked his head to the side; then it hit her what he wanted to hear. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, "It's pretty good." She mumbled barely able to hear herself. He peered at her more closely,

"What was that? I couldn't hear over your humbleness." She rolled her eyes back down to him and tried to stop from smiling,

"It's actually pretty good. And I think we should do it for the duet." He blinked at that, his tanned cheeks turning a slight red,

"Oh, I didn't think you'd actually do it." She shrugged,

"We all have to try and get along and your routine is good. I'm willing to try it for the greater good of the club." Puck shrugged.

"Fine, but if anyone asks, you did it."

"Why?" She blinked at him, "Puck you have some amazing talents. You can play guitar, sing and apparently create some great choreography sets, of course the two latter are rough and unrefined but that's only because you lack my training, but why don't you work on your gifts?" Puck had turned away from Rachel while she rambled before he whipped around again and had anger in his eyes,

"Rachel, how has your training helped you with boys? Friends? Huh? Has it helped you other than making you an uptight prude? Just because you have star qualities doesn't mean you're ever going to make it in the world!" Rachel recoiled at his words.

"W-well you're right, it h-hasn't helped me with those things but at least I know who I am and don't have to hide behind the requirements of society to fit in." She stared at Puck with her eyes filling with fear and pride. Puck gave a scoff as he twisted his head away and rubbed the back of his neck.

"God, Berry, I don't know what world you live in." He moved to his bag and began to pack up his things,

"Puck, you can get out of this town if you try." She muttered to him. Puck stopped but didn't turn to look at her, "You can do great things if you try." From his position squatting next to his bag, Puck twisted his body to look at her,

"Really? If I try and hope and think really hard?" He was mocking her, "Berry, you really don't get it do you?" He twisted back and shoved the last book in his bag before he jumped off the stage and stormed from the auditorium. Rachel stood there in shock for a moment. They had actually been getting along, somewhat, and then one little statement threw it off again. Rachel moved to the piano to start packing her bag when she noticed Puck's letterman jacket sitting on the piano bench. She sighed; maybe if she hurried to the parking lot, she could catch him. Rachel hustled out to the parking lot to see Puck throwing his bag into the truck and sliding in. She broke into a slight jog and he looked up noticing her running toward him. He reopened the door and slid out. Rachel slowed her jog and held his jacket out. Puck grabbed it and went to go back to his truck but Rachel grabbed his arm,

"Puck, I'm sorry." He turned back to her, his face scrunched slightly with confusion,

"For what?" She shrugged,

"For pushing you. I wasn't following rule one." She gave an uncomfortable laugh and readjusted her bag on her shoulder. He smirked and nodded, before turning back to his truck.

"Hey Puckerman, don't forget your singing slut! She definitely knows how to get a _head_ in the game!" A couple of guys laughed from across the parking lot. Rachel felt her cheeks sting with embarrassment and she knew she was red. Puck threw his jacket in the cab and looked at the guys,

"Hey, why don't you come over here and say that to my face? Or would you rather stay over there and play with each other?" He yelled back.

"What're you doing?" Rachel hissed. But the guys were already over to Puck standing mere inches away from one another.

"You stickin' up for sluts now, Puckerman? I didn't think you could hit a new low, but I guess that runs in the family huh?" One of the guys taunted while the other stood back, watching and waiting for Puck to try something.

"Puck, don't!"

"Yeah, listen to the Glee slut." The guy murmured again. Puck took a couple of steps back before his fist pulled back and shot forward so fast that the kid didn't see it coming and crumpled to the ground. The other kid jumped forward and managed to connect one fist with Puck before he was tackled to the ground and Puck sat on his chest and pounded his face. Rachel was frozen watching before she realized she was screeching his name and yelling for him to stop. The first kid had managed to stand up again and grabbed Puck's head, pulling him off of his friend. Puck managed to twist out of the kids grasp and got two more punches in before the kids took off toward their cars. Puck stood there breathing heavily before turning and quickly telling Rachel to get into the truck. Rachel didn't know that Principal Figgins was hustling over with the security guards and it took her a moment to remove her feet from the pavement and get into the cab. Puck shot out of the parking lot and twisted down several side streets. When he finally pulled back out onto the main drag, he slowed and gently touched his chin, just under his split lip.

"Shit, that stings a little." Rachel just gaped at him as he acted like it was no big deal he just pummeled the living crap out of a couple of guys in a high school parking lot. Rachel blinked a few times, cleared her throat.

"My car's in the parking lot." She muttered and he looked at her and gave a laugh.

"Good luck with that."

**The song is **_**Distant Dreamer **_**by Duffy. I'll probably have more songs like how they do in the shows later on, they have to have significance ya know, can't be like HSM where they just bust out and dance cause schools almost out…right -.-... **


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! ^_^ thank you also to all of the tips (PsychoM: I didn't even realize it did that until I uploaded it, but now I know! ^^) Anywho, just watched the latest episode and feel some new twists coming on…by the way: Mercedes apology was not what I was talking about I said she'd redeem herself, just so you know! On with the story! R & R, thank you! ^^ **

****This chapter pushes the T rating a little bit. Other chapters will push it later too, but I don't think it will need to be changed to a mature rating. If you feel I should change the rating after reading the section; PLEASE, TELL ME!!! I highly doubt this one will cause anyone to have a conniption and demand I change it, but later one's where there are some intimacy could.****

Puck pulled up to Rachel's house and parked, but not before she thoroughly yelled at him for fighting and leaving her car there. She looked at him briefly while he leaned up to glance at his split lip. She sighed and undid her seatbelt. Reaching over, she took his head in her hands and pulled his face to hers. His hazel eyes were wide but he didn't move as she stared expertly at the cut.

"You'll live, it's not very deep." She glanced up and realized how close the two of them were. And although she almost didn't want to admit; Puck smelled better than Finn. Finn had the home smell which made her feel safe and warm, but Puck…he smelled like manly, good manly not B.O. manly. Rachel watched as his Adam's apple bobbed nervously and she realized they were still really close and she was still holding onto his face. Releasing him, she slid back to her spot and stared ahead, "My dad's wanted me to take CPR classes and it kind of went off from there. Needless to say, I can stitch up cuts, make splints, perform the Heimlich, CPR and-,"

"Berry, I get it. Thanks." She looked at him and smiled. "If you want, I can take you to back to your car. We have a game tonight and I need to be back anyways." Rachel felt herself take in a breath and nodded,

"Wait here." She hurried inside and dropped off her bag and grabbed a jacket. Rushing back out, she clambered back into the truck and smiled at him. After a few moments of riding in the rumbling truck, she turned to Puck,

"Won't you be ostracized from your group of friends if you're seen with me?" He cracked a cocky half smile at that, but she could tell he was wondering the same thing,

"Hell no, I'm a stud. I can get away with it. And if anyone has a problem with it, well, you saw what happened."

"You're very cocky, Puck. That could get you into trouble one of these days."

"Too late." He answered her with another grin. She felt herself blush at his grin and he pulled up to his house.

"What are we doing here?" She turned to him and Puck gave a chuckle,

"I've got to get my football gear." She blinked at him and looked back at his house. Puck got out of the truck and grabbed his bag before jogging in and disappearing into the small house. Rachel sat in the rumbling truck, feeling her mind wander to the fight and why Puck would do that. As he left the house and wandered back over to the truck, she noticed he had changed what he was wearing. A tight red underarmor shirt clung to his muscles and he wore his practice shorts. Rachel whipped her head around and focused on the asphalt in front of the truck. Puck got back into the truck and looked at her.

"What're you looking at?" His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked from her to the spot she was looking at.

"Nothing. That is exactly what I'm looking at, nothing." Yes, she saw nothing; she wasn't going to stare at anything because there was nothing to stare at.

"Okay…" Puck twisted back in his seat and put the truck in gear. Rachel felt her eyes drift to the side and stared at him from the corner of her eye. _Stop it Rachel!_ She yelled at herself. Forcing her eyes back ahead, Rachel began to think over their duet and the choreography.

"Rachel!" Her head snapped to the side and she looked at Puck with wide eyes. "Are you okay?" Puck was stopped at a light that was a few blocks from the school. She blinked at him and nodded, "Are you sure because I've been saying your name for the past five blocks." She took in a breath and nodded again,

"Yeah, I've just been thinking a lot." He nodded but she could see he didn't believe her,

"Are you going to go to the game?" She stared at him; did he really just ask her to go to the football game?

"I-I probably won't. I've never really been into football and I really don't have friends to sit with." Puck shrugged as he pulled into the schools parking lot and pulled up next to her car.

"Well, see you Monday, Berry." Rachel slid out of the truck and turned to Puck again; her voice caught in her throat.

"Thank you, Puck. It was really…gracious of you to stick up for me. I really didn't expect you to destroy two boys' faces in the process but thank you nonetheless. And thanks for bringing me back to my car." Puck merely nodded and gave her a small smile.

"No problem, Berry."

----------------------

Rachel sat the cold metal bleacher, still trying to figure out the rules of the game as Tina sat next to her and Mercedes on her other side.

"Rachel, I still feel really bad about yesterday." Mercedes quipped for the hundredth time in the span of four quarters.

"Mercedes, it's okay, everything will be blown over by next week when something else comes up." Rachel reassured her as Tina cheered with the rest of the crowd. Their school was winning by only a touchdown and the other team was on the last ten yards of our zone. Rachel had no idea what that meant.

"What?" she pulled on one of Tina's chains that hung from her jeans. Tina whipped around and held her hands out like she was going to strangle Rachel,

"The other team has ten seconds and two yards before they either tie the game or win!" She yelled at Rachel, who jerked back. Tina grabbed her arms and hauled Rachel to her feet. The line that was out there was tightly packed together to stop the other men. Rachel had no idea what was going on as the quarterback got the ball and threw it into the endzone. The entire crowd seemed to stop breathing and Rachel felt adrenaline well up in her stomach. She had never felt anticipation like this before; not even when she was performing. One of the home players leapt up and snatched the ball out of the air before the opposing player behind him was able to touch the brown leather. The player landed on his feet and sprinted away down the opposite end of the field followed by a string of opposing players and his own. Tina, Rachel and Mercedes found themselves leaping up and down in joy as some of the crowd began to rush out onto the field. Tina grabbed Rachel's hand, who grabbed Mercedes and they joined them on the soft earth. Rachel found Finn excitedly and gave him a warm hug even though he smelled terrible.

"Hey Rach, I didn't even knew you liked football?"

"I don't but you have to try something new every day, right?" He gave her a knee-weakening smile before nodding and running over to Quinn, who leapt up and down carefully with a wide smile on her face.

"I thought you weren't into football." She heard Puck's voice rumble behind her. She turned and gave him a cocked grin,

"Well, this is one of America's greatest sports. That and Tina's obsessed with football. All I had to do was mention it and we were here." Puck gave a half grin and nodded,

"I'm glad you showed up." And he jogged off to join the rest of his team who were headed into the locker room. Mercedes was standing behind him with a grin teasing her lips.

"What?" Rachel looked at her with wide eyes but Mercedes merely shook her head,

"It's nothing, Rach. Let's find Tina and head out." They had managed to pry Tina out of the pit of people leaping and jumping around and as they drove in Tina's car, Mercedes leaned forward and looked at Rachel.

"So, are you going to Finn's Halloween party?"

"I told him I would go, but," she thought back to Puck's threat, "I don't know."

"Y-y-you should go." Tina smiled at her without taking her eyes off the road,

"What would you go as?"

"It's a costume party?"

"I assume. So, what would you be?" Rachel thought about it. She honestly had no idea. She had been Maria from West Side Story, even Dorothy one year from The Wizard of Oz, but her urge to go out and get candy from strangers had died when she was ten. She shrugged again and Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"If it is a costume party, get ahold o' me. I got your outfit." Rachel was slightly fearful of what Mercedes had decided to pick out but nodded and got out of the car, thanking Tina for driving and flouncing back into her house.

Puck lay in his bed after the game and after game party that was held after it. He practically fell down his stairs and flopped onto the mattress without changing other than kicking his shoes off. He was dead tired and content with himself. Even though his lip hurt as well as his knuckles. He easily slipped into a heavy dream and felt weightless. He lay in bed, buck naked and he could hear the click of heels headed toward him. Oh yeah, one of these dreams. Puck smirked and could practically feel his body smirk in response. He glanced up and found Rachel Berry standing above him; her hair was in prefect curls that cascaded down her shoulders and her dark eyes outlined with eyeliner. But it was her lips that caught his attention; fiery red and plump. She wore skimpy white lace bra and panty set and was wearing a pair of white pumps. Puck felt his heart jump to his throat and blood rush away from his brain. She was straddling his hips in moments and they were embraced in a warm kiss. He quickly rolled over and pressed her under him, feeling all of her curves press against him in the best ways. She bucked her hips against him and moaned his name, his actual name, as he sucked on her neck and let his hands wander. Her moans got louder and louder until she was yelling it. Puck jerked away from her and looked at her curiously. Her tone had changed and then his mother appeared in her place, yelling his name. Puck jerked and fell off the bed. As his back connected with the floor and he felt his air leave his lungs in a heavy _whoosh!_ He let a string of mumbled curses fall from his lips. His hips hurt as well as his lip, knuckles and…Puck let his head fall and hit the floor hard.

"Noah? Are you alright? We need to get going to make it to Micah's tee ball game!" Puck grunted and yelled,

"Gimme five minutes, ma, I'll be ready." Puck looked back down his body and slammed his head onto the floor that time. He hoped to God that this was just frustration and all he needed was a cougar to clear his head and remind him that he was done with high school girls.

**I hope you liked! I figured since Rachel had a dream about Puck, maybe Puck should have one too. They're both growing on one another and I figured friendship would be a good jump before other things! ^^ **


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks, yet again, for all the reviews, you guys are so awesome! ^_^ No delays today, ON WITH THE STORY!!! R & R ^^**

Rachel lay out on one of her plush lawn chairs in her back yard, a book in her hands and her swimsuit dry. Yes they owned a hot tub, but after watching a show on the discovery channel, Rachel refused to enter it because of the swarms of bacteria infesting its waters. In fact all of her neighbors owned hot tubs or pools. She knew this because the kids would often have pool parties or get-togethers and she could hear them gossip or do other things. Rachel sighed and rolled onto her stomach; her mind had wandered but her eyes and hands had still gone through the motions and now she had no idea what was going on in her book. Slapping her book shut, she let her head fall to the cushion and she sighed again. Last night was still bugging her. Why was Puck being so nice? Was he really happy she showed up? Mulling over this, she heard her neighbor talking quite softly and then a male voice spoke back. It wasn't the voice of her neighbor's sons or husband. Sitting up, Rachel decided it would be best for her to leave and not see something she might regret. But, alas, she couldn't help it. She shifted her body so as she stood up with her things in her hands, she had to look across the shoulder height wooden fence. Her eyes grew wide as she saw Puck sitting on the edge of a hot tub, shirtless and her neighbor, _Mrs._ Delaine, was smiling at him and wearing a very skimpy outfit. Mrs. Delaine sauntered back into her house, throwing Rachel a dirty glare before she disappeared inside. Rachel glanced over at Puck, who also looked at her and smiled,

"Hey Berry," he called before standing and following Mrs. Delaine into the house. Noah Puckerman was a man whore. Rachel huffily stormed into her house and went right upstairs. Of course, he didn't like her; they were just tolerating one another. Except as she angrily wrote in her journal, she couldn't help but think back to his well muscled shirtless back. _Dammit Noah Puckerman! _She scribbled down forcefully before changing back into her workout clothes and hopping onto her oliptical. She did not need to fantasize about him right now.

Monday came too fast for Rachel; the image of Puck entering the Delaine house half naked was still burned into her memory. And Puck had seen her in her swim suit. Not the one she wore in public either! As the day ended, Rachel was still slushie free and Puck free as she managed to avoid him all day. But, as she neared her car, he was leaning against it and looking right at her.

"What's with you, Berry? You've been avoiding me like the plague." He shot at her as she brushed by him and opened her passenger door to set her bags in.

"Puck, the plague is more merciful than you are. And I'm not avoiding you." Puck ignored the little shot she took at him and made sure the space between them was uncomfortably close,

"Oh really, because you almost ran back into school when you saw me and any time we had to pass each other between classes you would run into random classrooms or the bathroom." He had caught her red handed,

"Why, Puck, I didn't know you were so stalkerish." She cooed at him and Puck jerked back from her. Furrowing his eyebrows, he set his jaw and looked at the ground,

"You're not so bad, Berry. And I thought we were playing nice toward one another." Rachel swallowed and looked at her car as she shut the door. She knew what she needed to say but her throat clamped shut. How did Puck do this to her.

"You're not so bad either, Puck, but…" she trailed off. Not even bothering to finish her sentence she opened her door and looked at him, "Practice tomorrow at five in the auditorium as usual." Getting in, she glanced at him and noticed he actually looked hurt. Guilt wrapped itself around her heart and she shook her head. Quickly getting out of the parking lot, she couldn't stop her mind from going wild with thoughts. '_She liked Finn! What was she doing having feelings for Puck? The guy who tortured her for years with slushies to the face, who wrote snarky comments on her Myspace, who was one of the kids who would whisper about her in the lunch room. Finn was too but he was so naïve and cute'! _A new voice entered her thoughts, '_But Puck is so manly. He knows a whole lot about a whole lot of things which makes him delectable!' _Rachel banished that voice from her mind as she parked in front of her house and, in a dream like state, wandered into her house, up her stairs and flopped on her bed. It also didn't help that Santana was continually threatening her and shooting her death glares. Puck and her hadn't even done anything!

Puck stared after Rachel's car; he actually felt depressed that she was avoiding him. Was it because of Saturday? Why would she be pissed about that? It's not like they were dating. Even though, while having sex with Mrs. Delaine in her living room, he couldn't help but imagine someone else under him. Someone with dark brown hair and big doe eyes. But it wasn't Berry. That and the swim suit she was wearing was surprising. A one-piece sure but it was a cut-out one piece and a pale yellow with large white polka dots on it. He only knew it so well because he was pretty sure Santana had one, only in a bikini…he wondered what Rachel looked like in a bikini. He shook his head and realized he was still standing in the middle of the parking lot. Letting out a breath, he was surprised he was still making good business even though it was October. As he got in his truck, Puck briefly wondered if Rachel had a hot tub or pool…

Rachel was perched on the piano bench at five after another day of avoiding Puck. She had managed to find other routes to her classrooms so he hadn't seen her duck into classrooms and wouldn't think she was still avoiding him; even though she was. She heard the doors slam closed and looked up to see him storming toward her. He was mad about something but she figured it wasn't her, since the second he got on stage he stood next to her.

"Is everything alright, Puck?" she all but whispered. His eyes snapped to her and she felt the air in her lungs leave her. "I think we should do a run through and find the places where we need work on and then go from there today, we won't be able to get the auditorium again until we perform-."

"Why are you still avoiding me?" He cut her off curtly. She stared at her fingers on the piano keys and licked her lips,

"I think it's better for the both of us if we just stay acquaintances. Not friends, not anything more; especially since I've been getting relentless death threats from a certain ex of yours." Puck sat next to her and looked at her even though she didn't look up. She could smell him again,

"Santana's been giving you death threats? Why?" Rachel bobbed her head in agreement.

"I think she's still bent out of shape over the rumor." Puck nodded before letting out a breathe and shrugging,

"Fine, acquaintances." Rachel nodded and smile even though it was as fake as her reasons for them to stay less than friends. She stood, moving to his side and they began rehearsal.

The rest of the week flew by and as Rachel woke on Friday morning, she felt her stomach twist in knots. Mercedes team had done an excellent job of the song "We've Got Tonight" and Tina's group had done Estelle's "American Boy" to a tee. Rachel dressed in a tight white sweater and Capri jeans before she had to rush from her house and to school. Puck stood leaning against his truck and pushed off of it when she pulled into the parking lot. He waited for her to get out and make her way over to him. He licked his lips and stared down at her. Rachel raised her eyebrows and shook her head briefly,

"What?" He blinked and took in a breath,

"Ya know Finn's party?"

"Yes, I know, tell him I'll go but don't show up!" Rachel began to bustle away from him until he gripped her forearm and pulled her back to him,

"No, I wanted to say, I wouldn't mind if you showed up. It wouldn't be horrible to see you there other than the usual drunks." She blinked at him and nodded,

"O-okay," He let his grip fall but he dragged his fingertips down her arm barely which caused a shiver to run up her spine. "Are you ready to perform today?" Puck nodded and they began to walk into the school together. Rachel felt like she was on Cloud 9 again, that is, until seventh period. She joined the other students in their swift movement to get out the door, when abruptly the crowd split, leaving Rachel standing in the line of fire of Santana and Brittany's cherry slushies. It hit her in the face and torso in a blast of cold sugary goo. Santana and Brittany took off running down the hall as the teacher went to the door to try and see who had done the atrocity. Everyone else just laughed. Rachel rushed to the bathroom, tears cascading down heavily. She didn't have a change of clothes with her today because she assumed the slushie attacks would have stopped. Rachel stood leaning against the sink just crying. Her face was clean but her sweater lay in a crumpled mess in the sink from her trying to wash out the stain quickly. She was in a tight camisole, scrubbing furiously at the cashmere when the door opened. She glanced briefly at the door through the mirror and jumped at the sight of Puck. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked away from him and her tears stopped almost immediately.

"I figured you could use something else to wear." He walked in and pulled the green plaid flannel shirt off and handed it to her. Rachel gratefully took it and pulled it on over her camisole and buttoned it up, even though it could have been a dress. She took in a breath and grabbed her soaked sweater, squeezing the excess water from it.

"Thank you, yet again. I feel like I've said that more times to you in these past two weeks than I ever had in my entire life." She breathed out.

"It's no problem, Rachel. C'mon, Mr. Schue is waiting for us to do the duet."

**Ok, so I know, this one went really fast when all the other chapters were merely day by day, but I kinda want the story to get rolling and there will be less fighting since they have come to an agreement, so there's that too! Anyways, R & R and I hoped you liked!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, here's the next chapter! ^_^ Enjoy! And LikeMuh…Fashnik: don't worry...it'll happen. ^^**

Rachel sat on the chair that was set out for them, facing away from Puck waiting for the music to start up. Puck's shirt was baggy and let an obscene amount of air in but it was better than her sweater. As the first chords began, Rachel stood and moved to the edge of the stage. Santana glared heavily at her before storming out of the auditorium, followed by Brittany.

"_If I were a boy, even just for a day. I'd roll out of bed in the mornin' and put on what I wanted and go. Drink beer with the guys and chase after girls. I'd kick it with who I wanted, and I'd never get confronted for it, 'cause they stick up for me." _She stormed back over to where Puck sat and sang to him, while glaring and placing her hand on her chest. _"If I were a boy! I think I could understand! How it feels to love a girl, I swear I'd be a better man" _Rachel's face had softened and she walked passed him and was back singing to the crowd, her hands clutched together over her heart._ "I'd listen to her! 'Cause I know how it hurts. When you lose the one you wanted, 'cause he's takin' you for granted and everything you had got destroyed." _

Rachel twisted away from them as Puck stood and went to the edge of the stage the same way, beginning his verse,

"_If I were a girl, even just for a day. I'd get out of bed in the morning and take forever to get ready. Complain to my friends, as if they got a man. They talk about you 'cause they're jealous, I just stay there, listen to it. I should get rid of them." _Puck went back to Rachel and spun her around, grabbing her wrists tightly and holding her close, singing to her. It actually took her breath away, they hadn't rehearsed this._ "If I were a girl! I don't think I'd understand! How it feels to love a boy! I swear I'd be a better woman!" _Puck released one of her hands and placed on his chest. His thumb was rubbing back and forth on her wrist as he held her there,_ "I'd listen to him, 'cause I don't know where he be! I would always try to tell him, that he needs to treat me better, like I don't gotta change at all! If I were a girl-,"_ Rachel jerked away from him and went to the opposite side of the stage that he went to, they sung to one another forcefully and Rachel almost felt tears welling up in her eyes as she sang out,

_"It's a little too late for you to come back-,"_

_"No,"_ Puck took steps towards her,

_"Sayin' it was just a mistake, think I'd forgive you like that-,"_

_"I don't,"_ He closed the gap further,

_"If you thought I'd wait for, you thought wrong!"_

_"I been wrong!"_ Puck was standing flush with her, one of his hands placed against the small of her back, holding her in place while the other took her hand in his, the one that was facing the crowd even,

_"But you're just a boy-,"_ Rachel stepped back, one of her hands pressed to his chest_"And you're just a girl-,"_

_"And you don't understand-," _Rachel pulled her hand away as they sang together and she felt her eyes close in almost emotional pain,

_"No, you don't understand!" _She pulled her hand away from his and faced him angrily again as she started her verse_,_

_"How it feels to love a girl someday, you wish you were a, better man! You don't listen to her!"_

_"And you don't listen to him!" _Puck stepped toward her and she stepped back,

_"You don't care how it hurts!"_

_"You don't care how I feel!"_ Puck was beating his hand lightly on his chest as he stared at her with so much emotion it almost made her stop singing.

_"Until you-," _they joined together again and Puck was close enough to grab her hand and hold her from stepping back any further_, "lose the one you wanted, 'cause your takin' her for granted, and everything you loved got destroyed!"_

_"But you're just a boy."_ Rachel turned her head away but Puck pulled her closer.

"_And you're just a girl."_ Rachel glanced up at him and found their bodies undeniably close, especially their lips. His fingers were entwined with hers and she felt her body shiver. The other kids were cheering and applauding like as though this was all a part of the choreography. Puck abruptly smirked at her and stepped away from her body, his fingers slipping from hers and the heat leaving her body. Mr. Schuester had the best expression Rachel had seen. She had seen it once before, when they had sang their mash-up of Halo and Walking on Sunshine, but this was for all the emotion they had truly emitted.

"Holy…Wow, guys, that was amazing!" was all he could manage to say into the mike before applauding with the rest of the Glee club. Quinn was shooting daggers at her and Finn was beaming, except there was doubt in his smile. Rachel turned to Puck and abruptly jumped on him in a hug. Puck stumbled back momentarily before hugging her excitedly back. He was actually excited about the piece. Rachel let go and let out a heavy breath. Walking over to her bags, she was surprised to see Finn jog up to her.

"Wow, Rach, that was great! You did an amazing job on the choreography!" Rachel felt her smile falter slightly and she remembered that Puck didn't want any credit for the choreography,

"Thanks, Finn. Umm, is your Halloween party tonight, a costume party?" She silently hoped it wasn't.

"Yeah, guess what I'm going be?" Rachel shook her head and smiled at him,

"A football player?" His smile fell and he blinked,

"I was going to go as a nerd. Should I be a football player? I have a Roethlisberger jersey I can wear." Rachel shook her head, reassuring Finn,

"No, I think it'll be cute to see you as a nerd."

"What're you going to be?" She took in a breath; she was wondering the same thing,

"You'll just have to wait and find out!" Finn was about to protest when Quinn all but screeched out his name and pointed at the floor next to her.

"I'll see you tonight, Rach!" he called as he ran to Quinn. Rachel smiled at him but felt her heart sink as he spoke in a low tone with Quinn, gave her that heartwarming smile and then kissed her carefully on her forehead.

"Rachel!" Mercedes tauntingly called from her spot next to Tina. "C'mon Berry, we got to get you ready for the party." Rachel packed up her stuff and looked around; Puck had already managed to disappear. She picked up her bags and flounced over to Mercedes. Mercedes sat in the passenger seat of her car as Tina followed in her Black Dodge Stratus.

"So, what am I?" Rachel asked worriedly. Mercedes merely grinned and looked out the window. Rachel's dads were home yet, so the girls ran up to Rachel's room and Tina instantly went to her drawers.

"What're you doing?"

"Y-y-you have to get into the mood of the party. S-s-s-so that means p-p-party underthings!" Rachel was in shock. No way were they going to slut her up.

"No! I-I mean, I don't have any-!" Tina abruptly ripped out a pink striped bag triumphantly, "No!" Rachel lunged for it but Tina was too fast and threw the bag to Mercedes. The matching red bra and panty set was lacy and slightly see-through.

"Damn, girl! Who're these for?!" Mercedes laughed and Rachel grabbed them away from her.

"They were a gag gift from my cousins in New York." She tried to hide them back in the drawer, but Tina grabbed her wrist.

"C-c-come on, Rachel, no one's going to see them!" Rachel sighed and blinked, she had a point. Finally conceding, Mercedes grabbed the under things and threw them on the bed. She reached into her back pack and pulled out a satin like cloth and black pumps that were red on the soles.

"You, my dear, are going to be fierce!"

Rachel sat in the car, her heart pounding against her ribcage as she smoothed the edges of her outfit. Mercedes sat next to her in Tina's car putting the finishing touches on Rachel's hair.

"Alright, turn around." Rachel shifted in her seat and Mercedes pulled out hot red lipstick. She blinked but let Mercedes put it on her. Earlier, she fought with her over the eye makeup and Mercedes held her down and threatened to draw on her face with sharpie. Tina pulled up to the front of Finn's house and Rachel froze.

"C'mon Rach, get out there!" Mercedes pushed her. Rachel pushed against the door,

"No, I can't do this; there is no way I can-!" Mercedes wrestled her over and opened her door, before shoving her out. Instantly, there was a hush over the conversations outside as she turned and glared at Tina and Mercedes as they smiled, waved and left her standing outside. Turning again, Rachel let out a deep breath. Mercedes had made the outfit especially for her, probably as an apology for the rumor last week. She had wondered briefly how she had her measurements but realized that Mercedes had taken them when she had created other costumes. Rachel wore a satin black dress that had a low neckline that almost reached the end of her sternum and thin straps. The bottom of the dress had a slit up to her hip and had a silk red trim. Her hair was up in a side bun with a fire red flower tucked away. She looked like a Spanish flamenco dancer minus the ruffles. Her black heels clicked on the concrete as she strode up to the door, her head held high as all the other people stopped and stared. Mike Chang smiled at her and waved hello, she almost didn't recognize him with his hair slicked back and his Dracula look going on. Rachel smiled and waved back before entering the house. She was almost instantly intercepted by Quinn who looked her up and down and a smirk graced her lips,

"Okay, home wrecker; I want you to stay away from Finn tonight. I don't care who you slut up tonight, but if you try to with Finn, I will end you." Quinn gave her one more look before sauntering off in her Dallas Cheerleader uniform. Rachel let the breath out she had been holding and walked into the next room. Finn sat on the couch with Puck and Matt Rutherford laughing with red cups in their hands. Finn had his jeans pulled up above his belly button, his button down shirt tucked in and red suspenders firmly holding the snug jeans in place. Matt was dressed in a tux and had a martini glass in his hand. Puck was wearing a simple white t shirt, jeans, a leather jacket and converse. Finn glanced up at Rachel and his jaw dropped. Rachel felt herself blush and smile as the other two boys followed suit.

"Jeez, Rach, it's just a Halloween party, you didn't have to go all out." Finn smiled at her as he stood and gave her a hug. He was a little tipsy and reeked of beer. She laughed and pulled away before she got drunk off of his fumes,

"Well, Mercedes wanted to make it up to me for accidentally spreading that rumor around. So, she made me this." Rachel stepped back and spun around quickly letting the bottom of the dress fan out and whip around her legs. She stopped and pointed to Matt,

"You must be the infamous James Bond I've heard so much about. And…Puck is either a Greaser or a rockstar, I can't quite figure out which." She smiled at the boys, her new found confidence even surprising her. Matt nodded excitedly as she got his costume right and Puck gave a little half grin,

"Definitely Greaser." She smiled back at him and Finn came up to her with a red cup in his hand.

"Here you go; one drink for the salsa dancer." He was actually really funny when he was inebriated. Rachel took a sip of the drink and blanched at the taste. She had never really drunk alcohol except for wine with dinner, with her dad's of course. She swept over to Puck and sat in Finn's spot as he wandered off to go mingle. Puck laughed at her as she took another drink and made a face before setting the cup down.

"Not much of a drinker." He mumbled at her. He, too, reeked of alcohol but seemed to still have his wits about him. How much longer, Rachel didn't know.

"Not unless it's a good red wine with dinner." She answered with a smirk. Matt snickered at her before standing up and holding his hand out to her,

"C'mon, let's dance." He threw out his best Sean Connery accent and handed Puck his martini glass. Puck looked like he was going to punch Matt in the face as Rachel took his hand and he pulled her up and swept her into another room where a heavy beat was playing. Matt twisted her around and they started to sway and dance to the music that was playing. Sure, Rachel had danced like this before, but usually it was by herself in her room when her dads weren't home. But now, there was people everywhere and no sense of personal space. Matt had moved behind her and was swaying back and forth, his hands on her hips as they danced to the heavy hip hop song. Rachel's feet started to ache and Matt had left her to dance with Brittany who was dressed as a dead cheerleader. Rachel stopped and went to go back to the couch, but a pair of hands grabbed her waist and pulled her back. She was about to jerk away and freak out on the person until she heard,

"Relax, Berry, I won't bite." The humor in Puck's voice slightly unnerved Rachel but she stayed where she was. His hips swayed against hers as his hand splayed out against her stomach holding her in place but being dangerously close to a part of her that she really didn't want him near in public. Wait, what? No, she didn't want him near there ever…right? His breath brushed against her skin as they continued to dance and he nuzzled her neck. Now she was freaked out, pulling away she smiled at him and whispered in his ear that her feet hurt before going back to the couch. Finn sat in a big lazy boy as Quinn was perched on his lap. Mike was videotaping them with a camcorder and Finn looked passed him and smiled at her. Rachel smiled back before sitting down and crossing her legs. Santana marched up to her in her Go-Go dancer outfit and looked pointedly down her nose,

"Stay away from Puck. He's mine!" She drunkenly slurred out,

"I'm pretty sure he stopped being yours when you broke up with him." Rachel fired back before standing and sauntering away and going into the kitchen. As she walked in a bunch of football players looked at her and blinked,

"You wanna do a SOCO shot?" One of them asked. Rachel had no idea what a SOCO shot was so she nodded and was handed a shot glass filled with amber liquid. They clinked the glasses together and threw their heads back; Rachel followed suit and almost toppled over from the burn and rush of alcohol into her system. She didn't think she was that much of a light weight. The boys filled the shot glasses again and went again. Rachel stared at hers before deciding what the hell and tipping it back into her mouth. She swayed and felt her head swim in the alcohol. What the hell was SOCO? She turned, looking for a glass that said SOCO but instead found a bottle of Southern Comfort; it was 100 proof alcohol. She swallowed again and tried to get the burn to go away. She needed to sit down. Stumbling back out into the living area, she noticed Puck was sitting on the couch with Matt and Mike was still videotaping Finn and Quinn. What did he see in her really? Sure, she was popular and pretty but she was an evil bitch. Rachel felt the urge to make him wish he was with her. It had to be the alcohol talking. Stumbling over to Puck, she noticed he was also glaring at the happy couple. Rachel saw Finn look at her again and smile and wave, before Quinn grabbed his hand and forced it down with a glare. Rachel looked at Puck who leaned back and glanced at her. She didn't know why, but all of a sudden, her body was moving without her minds consent. She swung her hips over his legs and slid up onto the couch, closing the space between them. Puck looked briefly shocked before taking her hips in his hands and holding her in place. She was really going to do this. Puck was rubbing his thumbs up and down and his pink tongue flicked out to wet his lips. He was looking at her with those intense hazel eyes, even though they were darkened by lust and alcohol. She saw Finn practically shove Quinn off of him as he went to stand up and look at her. Rachel stared at Puck before hungrily lowering her lips to his.

**Le Gasp! Cliffhanger! I'll get the next chapter up later tonight or maybe tomorrow depending on how fast I can type. ^_^ R & R Please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**If anyone noticed in the last chapter, Puck's costume was the same as the ones they wore in Vitamin D, during their performance…I, personally, found that to be really sexy, especially for Puck. Mighta just been me, but…damn that boy can work the rocker look. ^_^ Anyways, R & R. Again this chapter pushes the T rating but, I think it should be fine.**

The kiss was downright heart stopping. Puck definitely was experienced in the art of woman pleasing. Rachel found herself leaning into his body as his hands ran up her sides and held across her shoulders. His tongue flicked at her lips and she let them part. The slick muscle slid over her tongue and made her groan. She pulled away after a few moments to breath and his lips moved to her jaw line and neck, sucking and nipping and causing her breathe to hitch.

"Dude!" Finn yelled from his spot followed by the sound of plastic connecting with Puck's skull. Puck jerked away from her and Rachel whimpered slightly. Before Puck could yell anything at Finn, Rachel leaned down and closed her lips over Puck's bottom lip.

"Rachel!" Finn yelled disbelief thick in his voice. Puck pulled away this time and gave her a tender quick kiss. He picked her off his lap and grabbed her wrist. He led her out to his truck; Finn yelling at them and following them the entire way,

"Rachel, you're drunk, you need to go home!" Finn yelled. Rachel looked at Finn and blinked; she didn't care. Sure, she was happy he cared about her and wanted her to be safe, but she wanted this…well, her body and alcohol drenched mind wanted this. Puck led her to his truck and she easily slid in, wrapping the end of her dress over her legs as he ran around to the other side and sliding in. When he shut the door, she leaned over again and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss.

Puck's mind was swimming. Rachel had abruptly straddled him and planted a kiss on his lips that practically made him take her into Finn's room right then and there. And the sound she made when he pulled away from the kiss to glare at Finn for throwing the cup at him…

What was he doing, taking Rachel Berry back to his house after a hot make-out session? They were both pretty drunk, Puck wasn't even sure he should be driving right now, and he was pretty sure it was just out of spite of Finn and Quinn, but damn, Rachel looked smokin' in that outfit and the look she gave him when he got in the truck made his heart pound. Puck sped back to his house, focusing all of his attention on the road and watching out for cops. As he pulled up next to his house, Puck got out and walked back to her door, feeling his body sober up slightly with the cold chill that finally started to hit Ohio. Rachel's door was open and she was turned in the seat. He walked up to her and stared into her eyes. Puck wasn't sure if she really wanted this. He opened his mouth, but Rachel covered it with hers. Puck stood there shocked as she pulled away, slid out of the truck and down his body and took ahold of his wrist. She led him into his own house and carefully began the descent into his room. She let go of Puck's wrist and continued down into the basement, leaving him awestruck at the top of the stairs, staring after her.

Rachel bit her lip as she stepped up to the bed. Was she really going to do this with Puck? She reached up and pulled the flower out of her hair and then the ponytails that held her hair in place. Her soft hair cascaded down her shoulders and tickled the bare skin as she slid the strap of her dress off of her shoulders, before sliding the other one down with it. She heard the creak of the stairs as Puck joined her and she left the dress clinging to her hips as she turned to him. He was leaning against the wall watching her, his jacket off and laying on the floor. She was swaying slightly and Puck let out a breath,

"Do you really want to do this, Rachel?" his voice was quiet and soft, probably trying not to wake his mother but also tempting Rachel a little more. Rachel hooked her thumbs on the edges of her dress and slid it off of her hips and let it crumple to the floor. He watched it and then let his eyes slowly wander back up her body. Rachel felt like covering herself but that wasn't the way to seduce a man. She read Cosmo occasionally. She stepped out of the dress and went to the bed, sitting down on it and crossing her legs looking at him; she was still wearing the heels. Puck was in front of her in a matter of heartbeats, leaning down, his lips pressed against hers in hungry, light kisses. He pushed her up further on the bed, moving his body on top of hers. Wrapping her legs around his hips, Rachel tugged at the edges of his shirt, pulling it up over his head. He was warm, except for the cold metal of his nipple ring. She ran her fingertips over it and pulled away from the kiss, giving him a look. Puck merely gave a cocky half grin and started to attack her neck. He nipped and sucked at several parts before he found the one spot that send sporadic impulses into her brain. Rachel bucked her hips up to his and he almost took her right there.

Puck knew Rachel was really drunk, or not really drunk but a real lightweight. He knew she probably didn't really want this. But, she wanted something. He was going to give her something.

Rachel felt her eyes crack open the next morning. No light was filtering in through her window and she wasn't immersed in her thick comforter. Then the events that happened last night replayed through her mind in fast forward. The heavy weight that lay across her waist was Puck's arm. Rolling over carefully, Rachel looked at his sleeping face. He slumbered peacefully beside her, his naked torso pressed against hers. She shifted slightly; she was still wearing her bra and her panties. Maybe nothing had happened last night. The last thing she really remembered was Puck kicking out of his jeans and returning to kissing her while his hand ran up the inside of her thigh. Rachel slid her arm under his and moved to lift his arm up and remove her body, but his grip tightened and he pulled her closer to him,

"Wait about another hour and my mom will have gone to work by then." He mumbled out in a sleep thick voice. Apparently he wasn't as asleep as she had originally thought.

"Puck, did we...?" Rachel couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. But Puck didn't say anything. He had to know what she was asking, he wasn't that idiotic. She jumped slightly as she felt his lips press against her shoulder. "Puck, I need to know, did we?" She felt him shift behind her and his mouth was right next to her ear,

"Say it and I'll tell you." Rachel sighed and pulled herself away from him. She pulled the dress back on and turned to him.

"Did we have sex?" She asked coldly. Puck rolled onto his back, his hands behind his head as he stared at her,

"No." She threw her hands up in the air,

"Was that really so hard to say?" He shrugged slightly, his shoulder muscles easily sliding up and down, "And what did we do? Last I remember you were out of your jeans and…" Rachel still couldn't say it. Puck smirked at her,

"Needless to say, you aren't as innocent as you want people to think you are, Rachel." Rachel stopped; he actually said her name. Not her last name, her first name. Puck seemed to realize he said it and stiffened slightly.

"Puck, can you please take me home?" Puck nodded and stood up, the sheet falling away and showing his grey boxer briefs. Rachel whipped around, her face blooming red and she coughed slightly. What was she doing? She practically had sex with him last night but she can't see him in his underwear? Rachel silently yelled at herself before Puck touched her back. Jumping again, she picked up her shoes and followed him up the stairs and out of his house. His mom either wasn't in the room or had left for work but Micah sat on their plush couch, watching cartoons.

"Hey, bud, I'm going to be gone for a few minutes. Lock up and don't answer the door okay?" Micah nodded at his older brother before turning back to the TV. Puck was in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, while Rachel was still walking around in her outfit. As soon as she stepped outside, the blast of cold air hit her like a ton of bricks. She began to shiver and wrapped her arms around herself. Puck started the car and instantly tried the heat. It was clunking and sputtering, spitting out cold air. Puck turned off the heat and handed her his letterman jacket. Rachel pulled it on and reveled in the thick wool and leather. Their ride was silent and uncomfortable almost like the first time she rode in his truck. How did they get here? Two weeks ago, she was pretty sure he hated her guts, then they were acquaintances, then downright friends, and now…she used him to get back at Finn. They didn't do anything really, but the things they had done that she remembered were exhilarating. Who had she become? Puck pulled up to her house and Rachel moved slowly to get out of the truck, her head throbbing.

"Rach," She turned surprised at Puck. He had used her name again. Puck had slid across the bench seat and cupped her face with his large hand. His lips pulled hers to his and he closed them over her lower lip. Rachel felt her heart pound heavily and the headache seemed to ease. Puck pulled away and smiled at her,

"See ya Monday." Rachel could only nod as she slid out of the truck and numbly walked into her house and up to her room. She sat on her bed, taking in deep breaths, before a wide smile broke across her face and she fell back into her bed. Monday was going to be interesting.

**Hope you liked. I figured I'd make Rachel more adventurous when she's drunk than any other time. I also figured Puck doesn't want to make the same mistake with Rachel as he did with Quinn! ^_^ Get the next chappie up as soon as possible!**


	11. Authors Note!

**So sorry for all the updates and stuff…I kinda had a "BLAH!!!" moment with my story and had to fix something and it turned into a whole new "BBLLLLAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!" BUT now it's better! ^_^ All I did was change Rachel's neckline from "end of clavicle" to "end of sternum": I had the wrong anatomy term…Anywho, new chapter up tonight before the new episode airs for sure! **


	12. Chapter 11

**Ok, so sorry about all those other 'NEW CHAPTER' notices. Had a bit of a fight with FanFiction but it's all good now. I AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR THIS EPISODE (8) TO COME OUT AND I HAVE AN EXAM TONIGHT anyways, here's the next chapter and hope you enjoy!! ^_^ R & R**

Rachel felt almost nauseas with worry as she pulled into the parking lot Monday morning. Some of the people standing in parking lot stopped talking and waited for her to walk by before continuing their conversations in hushed whispers. Rachel rushed into the school and to her locker. '_It was just another day,´_ Rachel told herself as she opened up her locker and began to pull out the books she needed for the day.

"Hey Rach," Puck leaned against the lockers and smiled at her. It was an actual smile. Rachel felt herself blush and smiled back,

"Hello, Noah how are you this morning?" Rachel felt so awkward talking to him like they had been friends for years.

"I'm good, a little tired though, kinda had a crazy start to a weekend." Rachel rolled her eyes to him, irritation visibly shooting from them. Before she could say anything, he dropped his lips to hers and captured them in a quick, light kiss.

"See ya around," He spun away from her and left to go to class. It hadn't dawned on Rachel that the bell had rang or the fact that Quinn and Santana were giving her a death glare that even Sue Sylvester would have been frightened by. Rachel grabbed her last books and shut her locker before wandering to her class. Finn was already in there and looked up at her. He didn't smile or even try to seem as friendly as he usually was.

"Hi Finn, I had a great time at your party Friday." She sat next to him and he merely nodded, focusing on writing on his clean sheet of paper. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat at his quietness and pulled out her own sheet of paper, taking notes down. Ever class period was that uncomfortable until she finally had one with Mercedes and Tina, who each rattled off different question simultaneously so fast it made Rachel's head spin. Rachel laughed nervously and answered each question without revealing too much. She spoke softly and in a small voice the entire time as they asked questions and giggled at the answers. Puck walked by the door at one point and Mercedes and Tina started to laugh. He stopped and looked in at them; Rachel had her head bowed and was bright red while Tina and Mercedes had big grins on their faces and waved at him. Puck smirked and kept going down the hall. Glee finally came and every sat down uncomfortably. Puck sat next to Rachel and pulled her close, ignoring the death glares from Santana, Quinn and Finn. Mr. Schuester gave them a curious look when he walked in but merely shrugged and pulled out a sheet of paper with a grin on his face.

"Alright guys, the group I thought did the best was Tina's group," Puck could practically feel Rachel's disappointment but Mr. Schuester grinned at her, "But the best duet was Rachel and Puck. So, I have some songs we're going to try out." He went to his bag and pulled out three folders. The first two were mere ensembles with Tina and Matt as the leads and then Mercedes and Santana. But the last one he only handed to Rachel and Puck. It was the song, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Rachel smiled at Puck who just looked back.

"Let's start with Tina and Matt." Practice went smoothly with no outbursts or fights that Rachel had dreaded all day. As they left, Puck went to Rachel and gently linked his fingers with hers. Finn brushed by him forcefully and left Quinn behind, who had to jog slightly to keep up with his lanky legs. Santana waited behind with Brittany before lowering her head and whispering to her. Brittany went to Mike and whispered to him. Mike nodded and shrugged. Santana had a smirk grace her lips that was neither pretty nor kind. She wasn't going to let that Gleek have anyone.

Puck walked Rachel to her car and waited patiently as she put her bags in the passenger seat. She turned to him and smiled,

"Thanks for walking me out here, Noah." She liked his first name so much better than his nickname. Puck reached for her and grasped her wrist lightly, tugging her towards him. He pulled her into a warm kiss that left her breathless. Her hands gently pressed against his pecs but she didn't pull away, instead she deepened the kiss; this time, her tongue slipped out and flicked against his lips. Puck smirked inwardly; she definitely wasn't as innocent as she wanted everyone wanted to believe. He pulled away and pressed his forehead against hers, staring at her. Her eyes were hooded again and scanning his lips.

"Come over for dinner." He said after a few moments. Rachel moved her head away and looked at him, shocked. A wide smile replaced her expression and she nodded excitedly.

"I have practice until 4:30 so, how about 5?" Puck licked his lips as he stared at her with those hungry hazel eyes.

"Okay, I'll be there." Puck kissed her once more softly before turning and walking to his truck. But not before glancing back and seeing Rachel practically bouncing around. Puck let out a laugh but turned back and kept walking. He grabbed his practice gear and went back into the school. Hopefully he wasn't late. Again.

Rachel sprinted around her house, trying to find an outfit to wear to Puck's. Sure, she was pretty sure his mom and brother could care less what she wore, but she wanted to make a good impression. Finally settling on a tight white sweater and blue pleated skirt, she found her favorite black flats with the white bow on the top. Pulling on a pair of white knee high socks and her flats, she glanced at the clock. It was only 4:25, but she was shaking with anticipation and couldn't wait any longer. Telling her dad's where she was going; she flounced out of her house and to her car. Puck still wasn't home so she wandered up slowly to the door and knocked quietly. Micah opened the door this time and beamed at her. He was missing his front tooth today. Diana came to the door and welcomed her in warmly.

"So, did you and Noah do well at the Glee duet?" she asked as they sat at the small maple table that was littered with papers that looked like bills.

"Yes, we actually did very well…he invited me over for dinner, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Diana looked shocked before grabbing at the papers,

"Oh no, you're not intruding at all, I just wished Noah would have told me so I could have made this dump presentable." Rachel shook her head but helped stack the papers together,

"It's no problem, really." Diana gathered up the stack of paper and rushed into another room as Puck entered his house. He gave Rachel a curious look before going up to her and giving her a light peck on the lips,

"I thought I said five?" Rachel smiled at him and shrugged,

"You did." He rolled his eyes at her before dropping his stuff off on the floor and wandering into the bathroom.

"Noah Puckerman! Do not leave your stinky football gear on my dining room floor!" His mother yelled from the other room. He jumped out of the bathroom quickly and grabbed his gear. Rachel grabbed it too and looked at him with a smile,

"You go shower, I'll take it down." Puck nodded with a grin and kissed her forehead before jogging back to the bathroom. Rachel quickly went down to his room so his mother didn't yell at him for making her take his bag down. She dropped the heavy bag on his clean floor and glanced around. He had cleaned it this weekend after their little escapade. She smiled inwardly as she wandered around to his guitars and inspected them. They were well used but clean and actually in great shape, except for the one that sat by his bed. Rachel ran her fingers gently over the strings; sure she was trained in playing the viola, violin and other orchestra instruments but this was different. The earthy twang it made or the supple reverberation when it was strummed was more…well, Puck. Rachel wandered around the room, tracing things with her finger tips as she wandered by them. She came across some photos and picked them up carefully. An older picture of Diana when she was youthful and lively with Puck giggling in her arms. There was a ragged edge and the disembodied arm of someone reached into their side of the picture. Apparently, that was Puck's father. She set it down and looked at other pictures. The next one was of Puck and a gangly boy who looked like Finn standing with their arms over each other's shoulders, both couldn't have been any older than 8. They were wearing dirty football uniforms and both missing their front teeth, their little pink tongues poking out of the holes. The next picture was of Puck and Micah; Puck looked about 14, still Mohawk-less and had his little brother perched on his lap while he was ripping open a bow covered in shiny red wrapping paper. Rachel smiled at the picture before dropping it onto the others. The last picture was of Puck and Santana. He had his Mohawk now and had Santana's back pressed against his chest. She was taking the picture and had a beautiful smile while he had a smirk and was pressing his head against hers. It was a cute picture Rachel thought as she felt her smile disappear. She dropped the photo to the pile and turned. Puck still wasn't out of the shower, or at least he hadn't come get her. She wandered over to his bed; the white sheets had been replaced with dark blue as she carefully sat onto the bed with a sigh and stretched. The door to the upstairs opened and the stairs creaked. Glancing over, she saw Puck thump down the stairs in his exercise shorts, his towel wrapped behind his neck and shirt tucked into his waistband. He gave her a grin and muttered,

"What?" Rachel then noticed that she was smiling extra wide and she tried to hide it. Puck threw the towel on the ground and wandered over to her. Flopping onto the bed, he looked at her with squinted eyes,

"What is it?" Rachel shook her head while lifting her hand up and running it back and forth over the dark strip of hair. Puck wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to the bed. Burying his head into her hair, he muttered into the mass, "Why did you change what you were wearing?" Rachel shrugged as she traced nonexistent circles onto his bare skin.

"I dunno. I wanted to make a good impression with your mom, I guess." Puck sat up and looked at her,

"Really? That's your excuse." Rachel smiled and nodded, "Because I think, you just wanted to tease the hell out of me with that ridiculously short skirt." Puck was running his hands up and down her thighs as he spoke and Rachel's smile lowered slightly,

"My skirt's not short!" She defended it, sticking her bottom lip out, "It is in fact, the adequate length for decency. If you want to talk about short skirts-," Puck silenced her with his mouth pressing against hers. The kiss was hot and moist as Puck shift himself between her knees and pressed his hips to hers. Rachel pulled away and let out several deep, ragged breaths. Puck continued leaving a trail of soft kisses from her lips down her neck to her clavicle.

"Puck, your mom's upstairs." Rachel breathed out finally, still unable to catch her breath.

"So?" he answered dipping his head lower. Rachel rubbed her legs up and down his sides as he pushed her sweater up, out of her skirt and to her chest. He licked and nipped at the new skin as she lay there, struggling to keep her breathing even and not make any sounds. Puck smirked into the soft skin of her belly after a moment and rested his chin on her. She looked at him and sat up on her elbows, her shirt falling and causing him to sit up as well. He smiled like he was in trouble and knew it before kissing her gently on the forehead and standing. He went to his dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He pulled the shirt on and dropped his shorts to the floor. Rachel stood shakily and whipped around; she couldn't shove her sweater back into her skirt without unzipping it, so she unzipped it halfway and hurriedly shoved the end of her sweater into it. Smoothing everything, she zipped her skirt back up and turned to find Puck staring at her while leaning against his dresser. He pushed off the dresser and went to her. Rachel remained still as he tucked a hair behind her ear and kissed her again. She had really never been shown so much affection from one guy. Not that she was complaining. Puck dropped his hand to hers and linked his fingers with hers as he led her to the top of the stairs. Diana had set the table for three people while Micah sat on the couch, a TV tray in front of him with a PB&J sandwich, milk and some cookies. Diana smiled at them and went into the kitchen again bringing out a pan filled with enchiladas. Puck led Rachel to her seat while sitting across from her and his mother sat at the head of the table. Abruptly, his mother stopped filling her plate and looked pointedly at Rachel's torso. Puck was about to ask his mom what she was doing, when he noticed Rachel was wearing the Star of David. Shit…

"Rachel, are you Jewish?" His mother bluntly asked. Puck set his elbows on the table and buried his face in one of his hands while the other held onto the fork. Rachel glanced at him before smiling and nodding. His mother swatted him on the shoulder. He looked up at her and she jerked her head to Rachel,

"She's Jewish and bright. That's what we call in the old language, A Keeper." Puck felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he mother turned from him and kept asking Rachel questions. Maybe this was a bad idea.

**So there ya go and hopefully Puck survives this dinner with his mother and Rachel. ^_^ Hopefully, the new episode is good too! ^_^ Ahhh, I can't wait! damn living in the pacific time zone!!!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Okays, I do have to agree with a lot of the R/P (or P/R) people with the Mash-Up romance going way too fast: BUT having said that, I do think it made great head way with Rachel and Puck in the long run. Maybe, even though its bumpy now, something may happen later. He did sing her a solo, might have just been to get in her pants, but with Puck you gotta take what you can get! Anyways, thanks again for all the alerts and reviews!**

**R & R!^_^**

Rachel lay with Puck in his bed after the, in Puck's opinion, horribly long dinner with his mother. After an hour of talking, Puck got up and started to clean the table even after his mother yelled at him for causing a ruckus in the kitchen and she couldn't talk to Rachel. Eventually, she sighed and commented that Noah must be peeved that she was talking so much with Rachel and got up to get ready for work. Puck led Rachel back downstairs and they flopped on his bed. She talked for, again in Puck's opinion, hours over things about musicals and the Tonys. Puck shut his eyes and slowly began to drift off to sleep at the sound of her voice. Abruptly, he heard a high pitched wailing and jerked awake. Rachel was still in his arms, they were both still clothed, and it was his alarm clock going off at 7 in the morning. Rachel groaned into his chest as he sat up and slid out from under her. Running upstairs, he woke his brother up and made a quick breakfast of poptarts. He thundered back downstairs and found Rachel curled up, her skirt pushed up so he could see just the very bottom of her white panties. Bad, bad thoughts rose up in his mind, but he was pretty sure that Rachel could knock his lights out if she caught him feeling her up while she slept. Leaning down, he put his hand on her shoulder and shook it carefully.

"Rach, wake up. It's morning." Rachel groaned at him again before leaping up.

"What?!" She cried out, combing her hair down and straightening her skirt.

"Yeah, it's seven."

"In the morning?!" she cried out again, she had to pull up her socks, Puck had a pretty good view down her sweater from the angle and found himself zoning out.

"That's what I said." She huffed out a breath and started to move toward his stair case. He gripped her arm and planted another mind-blowing kiss softly on her lips. She whimpered and he considered missing school to hear that sound all day. He pulled away and muttered a goodbye on her lips.

"Bye." She breathed out before practically floating up the stairs and out to her car. She wasn't even sure she actually drove home, but there she sat in front of her house. She ran from the car into her house and was met by her angry fathers.

"Where have you been Rachel?! I have been calling your phone all night and your friends' houses!" Her dad, Dan started in, waving the phone at her.

"Were you out all night with Noah? Did you two have sex? Oh, we haven't had the talk yet! Did you use contraception? Please tell me he didn't force you into anything you didn't want." Her daddy, Michael continued before gripping her shoulders.

"Dad! Daddy! Noah and I didn't have sex! I spent the night at his house on accident. I'm sorry I didn't call but I left my phone in my car! Please, I have to get ready for school!" She sprinted upstairs passed them before stopping at the top and turning back, "And I know we haven't had "the talk", I still know what I'm doing and won't let a boy take advantage of me. You raised me to be smarter than that." She continued to her room but heard her daddy say,

"She got that from my genes."

* * *

Puck stood at his locker, pulling out books for his morning classes and thinking back to last night. How did she fall asleep? She was the one talking forever and put him to sleep. The best sleep he's had in a while nonetheless. He was jammed out of his thoughts by Quinn who slammed her hand into the locker next to his. Brittany stood next to her looking around cautiously.

"Hi there Puck, I need to talk to you about a little problem I've noticed lately." Puck shrugged; he was pretty sure that this had to do with Rachel but, what could she do? "You break things off with Berry, or I tell her who the baby's daddy is." Puck rolled his eyes,

"And you lose Finn to Rachel anyways. What do you gain from this?" Quinn stuck her chin out,

"The satisfaction of knowing that no one will touch her if you don't break things off. This is just your deal; she has one too. And if neither of you comply, your high school careers will be down the toilet faster than mine was. And that's almost physically impossible." Puck set his jaw and Brittany tapped Quinn on the shoulder. Finn came around the corner and just stared at them talking for a moment. Quinn walked calmly over to him and smiled before stalking off. Brittany stayed behind and looked at Puck,

"Santana's going to talk to Berry when she gets here. She has a copy of the tape from Friday and is going to send it around and put up flyers and stuff. I'm sorry." She muttered before jogging off to go join some more of the Cheerios. Puck just stood there, numb. So, he can't get girls 'cause he's a jerk and then when he does get a girl, she isn't approved. Of Quinn's standards no less. Or Santana's. Puck felt a rush of anger and punched the lockers, creating a large dent in the locker next to his. People had stopped in the hallway to look at him as he grabbed his back and slammed his locker before storming off to class.

Rachel ran into the school in the nick of time and hurried to her locker. Santana stood there waiting for her, an evil smile gracing her lips.

"Hello, Berry. Do you know what this is?" She cocked her head to the side. In her hands was a case with a plain white CD in it. She held her gaze with Rachel as she opened up her locker,

"No," she answered in a small voice. Santana's smile widened,

"This is a little tape of Friday night. Now. You wouldn't want this getting around to, say your daddies dearest, would you? Or, maybe the school? That would just be horrible! Career ruining almost." Santana had moved around so she was hissing in Rachel's ear, "Your little sex-capade with Puck is over. He has his terms laid out for him, and you have yours. Stay away from him." She growled finally before turning on her heel and walking off; her ponytail bouncing with every step she took. Rachel had forgotten all about the camcorder Mike had. She felt her heart sink as she grabbed her last book and went to class. She sat far away from Finn and he looked at her sadly from across the room. Halfway through class, he wandered over and sat next to her,

"Hey, I'm sorry I was a jerk Friday and yesterday. I should be supportive of any relationship you have and-,"

"Oh get off your high horse, Finn. Don't tell me you don't know what Santana did. She is friends with Quinn after all." Finn furrowed his eyebrows at her,

"What? What're you talking about, Rachel?" Finn placed his large hand on her shoulder and rubbed it, trying to comfort her but not make her burst out into tears,

"Santana is blackmailing me with that stupid video from your party. If Noah and I don't break up, she's sending it around the school and to my dad's." Finn screwed up his face more,

"Why would they do that?" She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes,

"Finn, you're cute but sometimes, I wonder what's going through that brain of yours. They don't want Noah and I together because I'm not "worthy" of him. Or they're jealous." Finn let his face relax as he rubbed her shoulder a little harder,

"I'll talk to Quinn and see what's going on. That's ridiculous to think you aren't good enough for him. You're probably one of the only true girlfriends out there." Rachel smiled at his compliment.

"Thanks Finn. But, I highly doubt anything will change." The bell rang and Rachel joined the rest of the students in grabbing up their stuff for the next class.

Puck didn't sit next to Rachel at Glee practice that afternoon; Santana and Quinn had wide smiles on their faces while Tina, Mercedes and Kurt surrounded Rachel, throwing glares at the Cheerios once in a while. Brittany was off next to Mike talking in a low voice and he looked like he was going to be sick. Mr. Schuester didn't have them sing today and instead went over chords and notes for the songs. He had Artie sing a portion of a song and got him to get up to a high B.

"Puck, Rachel. I want to hear your duet by Friday." He called out to them after practice was finished and everyone was making a lot of noise before walking out. Mercedes glanced at Puck before linking arms with Rachel and leading her out the door, followed closely by Artie and Tina. Puck rolled his eyes and went to go after them but was stopped by Finn.

"Hey dude, what's going on with you and Rachel? I heard that Santana's blackmailing her?" Finn spoke in a low tone as the Cheerios made their way out. Puck clenched his jaw and nodded,

"Yeah, with that videotape. They also got me with it 'cause, they're pretty sure my mom will be pissed if she sees it." It was true, if his mom did see it, she'd flip her lid but that wasn't the thing that scared him.

"And you're going to let Santana do that?"

"Dude, Quinn was the one who got me with the blackmail. Santana got Rachel." He shot out before grabbing up his bag and storming out of the room. Finn ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder,

"What're you talking about? You mean this morning when you two were talking, she was blackmailing you?" Puck gave his friend a 'Duh!' look and kept walking, "She said you were talking about a paper in Spanish."

"Dude, seriously, why would she come to _me_ for help in class?" Finn stopped; his friend had a point. She was good friends with Santana after all. Before Finn could say anything more, Puck had stormed off and out to his truck. Rachel stood leaning against his door while Mercedes, Kurt, Tina and Artie were waiting nearby next to Kurt's SUV. Puck threw his bag in on the passenger side door before going to Rachel.

"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice, her eyes focused on the ground and tears welling up in her eyes. Puck shook his head,

"It's not your fault." He breathed out,

"No, but maybe we don't have to let them know we're still dating. It could be our secret?" She whispered looking up hopefully at him. Puck felt something twist in his heart. That was what he relationship was going to be like? A big secret that would eventually get out and possibly screw her over even more? Puck gnawed on his lip letting Rachel ramble on about ways they could sneak around and Quinn and Santana would never know, until he slammed his hand into the cab.

"Rachel, we're not going to do that." He growled out,

"Why not?" Rachel searched his face, "Don't you want to be with me? I-I mean-,"

"Rachel! The baby isn't Finn's! It's mine!" he hissed out. He needed to get Rachel away from him. She would only be hurt by him. She jerked back at that news. "Rachel, you need to-!" he was silenced by her hand whipping across his face. She sprinted away from him to Kurt's SUV. He stood there stunned, feeling the tingling burn spread across his cheek. He was almost certain that there was a hand print. He rubbed it slightly and turned to find Santana sauntering up to him with a wicked grin on her face.

"So you knocked up Quinn? Well, we got you two to break up in record time. Wow, that relationship lasted a whole weekend. Not your longest, but probably the most dramatic." She laughed. Puck smirked at her angrily,

"Yeah, and if you think about it, I got Quinn pregnant four months ago. We broke up three months ago." Santana's grin fell from her face and turned ugly,

"You're an asshole!" she hissed out, turning on her heel and storming away from him. Puck sighed as he climbed into his truck. Yeah, he was, and that was why he didn't deserve Rachel.

* * *

Rachel sat crying with Mercedes and Tina rubbing her back as Kurt dropped off Artie at his house and went on an ice cream run.

"Maybe he was just being a jerk. He could have been pissed about what the Cheery-Ho's did and took it out on you."

"No," Rachel breathed out, "I could tell."

"I-I-I wonder if Finn knows?" Tina mumbled softly. Mercedes looked up with her eyebrow raised. Rachel sniffed as her tears subsided.

"I don't know, but I don't care. I just want this school year to end so I can move on and then when I graduate, go to New York and make it big. And get far away from Noah Puckerman as humanly possible."

* * *

Puck lay on his bed, strumming on his guitar again. He was pretty sure Santana would have blown up on Quinn in front of Finn and then Finn would be there. But, he had yet to show up. He remembered the look on Rachel's face and he stopped strumming the guitar's strings. He gripped the neck so tight that he was pretty sure that the wood was creaking. Why did he have to tell her that? He could have just played along and said sure to the sneaking around. _Maybe it's because you're an asshole and you don't want to hurt her 'cause you actually like her?_ That made about as much sense as the way Quinn got "impregnated" by Finn. He already hurt her, pretty bad too. _But if she was with you longer, she would have gotten to know you. Admit it; this was just a way to stay the "bad boy" of school who has no one to tie him down. You get to be with any cougar you want, any girl you want. Except, you probably just screwed yourself over and will be attached to Quinn now. That's what you wanted right?_ Puck felt his mind slowly turning to mush as it mulled over what he had done. Why had he just ruined a perfectly good relationship? That and he probably screwed up his friendship with Finn. He heard someone forcefully bang on his front door. His mom wasn't home and his brother was at a birthday party until tomorrow. He knew it was Finn. Puck put his guitar in its case and latched it before putting it somewhere safe enough that it couldn't be landed on or used. He straightened his back and marched up the stairs.

**Okay, so I know a lot happens in this chapter, but it's all for a good cause…even though they broke up…just trust me! Please no flames (_), unless your flaming Santana, in which case, be my guest! **


	14. Chapter 13

**Okay's thanks for all the reviews and alerts, you guys are awesome! ^_^ One email got me thinking about this update so I added that in, but only briefly cause I don't want to spend too much time on it. It's pretty self explanatory. Oh and I totally forgot! SOCO is Southern Comfort, it's just the abbreviated way to say it, sorry I totally forgot all about that! _**

**R & R!!**

The next day, Puck didn't show up for school. Finn had shown up and had a black eyes as well as a pretty good bump on his jaw. He refused to talk to anybody and Rachel couldn't blame him. Quinn wasn't at school either, but Santana had shown up and acted like there was nothing was wrong. Except for the fact that every time she saw her, she glared heavily at Rachel. As the day ended, Rachel strode up to her before Glee and let out a breath,

"Santana, why did can't you leave Puck alone?" She started. She had rehearsed what she was going to say to the Cheerio all day, and didn't like any of it.

"I can't let him date a Gleek. I know Puck. He frankly he deserves better than you."

"But you dumped him because of his credit score."

"Exactly. I need financial security. I deserve better than him, but he most definitely deserves better than _you_." Her voice dropped to a hiss again, "And frankly the only person you deserve, is Jacob Israel." She turned and flounced off to Glee. Rachel blinked. She sighed and shuffled into Glee, sitting in the back corner away from the group. She couldn't stop thinking of Puck all night, but she didn't want to think about him. She hated him for keeping that secret from her and then dropping it on her to get her to break up with him. She had considered giving herself to him even. She felt angry tears well up in her eyes and sniffed, sucking them back. Glee ended without any angry outbursts, or tears accompanied by a storm out. Rachel went up to Mr. Schuester and let out a breath.

"Mr. Schuester. I don't think Noah and I will be able to do that duet. We have musical differences that we can't seem to work out over the song. I'm sorry." Mr. Schuester blinked at her,

"Well, Rachel, is it okay if I listen to your duet before deciding if it won't work?" Rachel shook her head,

"No, because I don't think I can handle it." She said with a single tear rolling down her cheek. Mr. Schuester sighed and pulled her into a hug.

"It'll be okay. Alright, do you still want to do it, or…?"

"N-no. I think Matt and Tina would make a good duet." She sniffed out before wiping her eyes and letting out a shuddering breath,

"Okay, thank you for telling me, Rachel." She nodded and strode from the room. Finn stood leaning against her car.

"Hey," he said in a small voice. Rachel wrapped her arms around her body as she looked at the ground. It was getting colder every day.

"Hey." She stood there awkwardly for a moment before she opened her mouth to talk again. She was silenced by Finn's lips pressing softly to hers. She did love the feel of his lips, but she couldn't help but compare his kiss to Puck's. She pulled away abruptly and Finn breathed out,

"I-I'm sorry, it's just-I just-God, Rachel, I'm sorry! I was just-," Rachel put her fingers over his lips and gave a small sad smile.

* * *

Puck managed to drag himself to school after a week of sitting in his room. Not only was his mother furious at him, but he was in serious pain. He had another split lip and a black eye. His ribs hurt really badly too, he was pretty sure that one or two of them were cracked. He didn't think Finn was able to get that angry but damn was he wrong. By the time he made it to school, new of the whole scandal had already rushed through town. His mother scolded him but the fact that she did it with tears in her eyes made him even more ashamed. As he pulled into the high school parking lot, he remembered Quinn had shown up to his house and introduced herself to his mother. She was polite and welcoming of the girl but when she left, she of course, had to mention that Quinn wasn't Jewish. He stiffly got out of his truck and had to take short breaths as he stalked into the school. He got some death glares and some sympathetic looks as he wandered through the halls. When he finally saw Rachel, his heart shattered. She was on Finn's arm as they talked quietly and smiled cutely at one another. Quinn was in the same position as him, staring at the couple that seemed to have gotten passed them without a second thought. He went up to her and held her as best he could even though he was in immense physical and emotional pain.

"I didn't think it'd hurt this bad." Quinn sobbed into his chest,

"I know." He murmured back as he rubbed her back. He noticed Rachel look up at him and her face fell for a split second before the icy mask was on and she turned back to Finn. Puck felt a surge of hatred toward his ex-best friend but he deserved it. He deserved every bit of this pain.

* * *

Rachel lay in bed that night, her mind wandering back to the look on Puck's face when he had seen her and Finn together. They weren't officially together yet, they had decided, but they were there for one another. She thought back to the look on his face and felt tears well up in her eyes. She wanted to hold him, get rid of his pain, but she couldn't. He now knew how she felt. But had she really been hurt that bad? Yeah, he had lied-no, he didn't lie; he just never told her that Quinn was pregnant with his baby. Rachel felt her heart ache for the pain she was causing him. She couldn't be this weak over a boy! Then again, she had practically worshipped Finn since the beginning of Glee. Curling into a ball on her side, Rachel wrapped her arms around her body and closed her eyes tight. She needed to sleep tonight and not think about Puck. And the scars and bruises and pain she so desperately wanted to kiss away.

**Okay, so I know they've gotten a little angsty here but that's what a break up is, right?! And its also really short, sorry! But the next one will be longer and just better all around! Anyways, next update will definitely cheer a bunch of people up, especially since there isn't a new Glee episode this week. Depression…**


	15. Chapter 14

**Okay, here's the next chapter! Hope y'all like and this chapter is rated M. I kinda feel like doing that video game voice: "Rated M for Mature". Sorry, 1 AM and a lot of Halloween candy. R & R!**

**5 months later**

Rachel stood with the rest of the Glee kids jittery and excited. They were at their hotel for Regionals, which started tomorrow. Mr. Schuester came up to them and quieted them down. He began to weave an excellent motivational speech together as they gathered around him. Finn stood behind her, his hands tightly gripping her shoulders in support. But the only person she could seem to look at was Puck. He still had his Mohawk, but he seemed out of it today. The dark circles under his eyes had seemed to disappear after the first month after Quinn had delivered their baby. The poor baby was premature and was barely five hours old when she stopped breathing. They had tried to revive her little body but she was just too premature. Mr. Schuester had filed for a divorce roughly a few weeks after that and just recently started dating Ms. Pillsbury. Rachel thought back to how normal everything had been before Halloween and then how fast everything had gone downhill from there. Well, she shouldn't say downhill. Finn and her had a pretty good relationship. But he did still love Quinn. Puck hadn't been close to any of the Glee clubbers since his and Quinn's baby had died. Puck looked up with his hauntingly bright eyes and focused on her. Rachel shifted her eyesight to Mr. Schuester, shaking her head. Her thoughts were so scattered right now, she just needed something other than Puck, who still made her flustered, to focus on.

"Okay, I know we haven't rehearsed this that much, but after "Somebody to Love", I wanna hear Puck and Rachel sing, "If I Were a Boy"." Finn unconsciously squeezed Rachel's shoulder; he and Puck had made amends after the baby passed but their relationship was still pretty bumpy. "I think if you two practice tonight, it could be really good. Then after your duet, we can do, "Hate on Me", then maybe "Don't Stop Believin'"." Mr. Schuester continued before handing out keys and rooming assignments. Santana and Brittany, Quinn and Mercedes, Tina and Rachel, Kurt and Puck, Finn and Mike, Matt and Artie. It was already getting dark out by the time Rachel and Tina had claimed their beds and unpacked. Rachel eagerly commandeered the bathroom and lavished in a long hot shower. When she got back out, Tina had left her a note saying that her and Kurt were going to hang out with Quinn and Mercedes tonight. Quinn seemed to have been humbled by the baby and when the baby passed away. Rachel felt so bad that she didn't know the little girl's name, but it helped her cope. She redressed in a tight white tank top and black yoga pants before pulling on her slippers and shuffling down to Puck and Kurt's room. Standing there, she debated for three minutes before knocking softly. The door whipped open and she was met by Puck, half-naked, his shirt in his hands and his hair sticking up in odd angles. She sighed as she walked past him and sat uncomfortably on a bed. She assumed it was Kurt's because it had yet to be mussed up.

"I figured we should practice tonight." She said in a small voice. Puck pulled his shirt on and crossed his arms over his chest, pointedly looking at her. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and turned it to the song. "Say something!" she shouted out unexpectedly; she was tired of him being silent and watching her.

"Are you sure that Finn would like you here talking with me? He barely leaves you alone with me in class anymore."

"He's just worried," she shot over her shoulder as the music started to play. Puck looked at her unamused.

"Worried about what? Me knocking you up too?" Rachel sighed as she stood and turned to look at him.

"We should practice, we have to perform this in front of the judges and everyone tomorrow and we haven't performed it since that competition." She opened her mouth to start but Puck interrupted her again.

"How're you?"

"I'm fine, Puck." She breathed out as she went to her iPod, starting the song over.

"I'm sorry. If it makes any difference now." He sighed out. Rachel stopped fiddling with her iPod and looked at him.

"Apology accepted. Now we need to work on this song." Puck's eyes were downcast as she started to belt out the beginning lines of the song. Puck joined her at his parts but his eyes remained on the floor. As the last few lines were sung, Puck reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her into him and planting a soft, inviting kiss on her lips. Rachel felt her knees turn to jelly and her mind shut down as she tugged gently at his shirt. Jerking away abruptly, Rachel snagged up her iPod and rushed from the room. She couldn't let him do that to her again. She stormed into her room and was shocked to find Tina, Quinn, Mercedes and Kurt staring at her. She had tears cascading down her face and she jumped at the sight of them, before storming into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. After a few moments, there was a soft knock and the door opened. Kurt and Tina were peering at her cautiously as she sat on the edge of the tub, sobbing.

"I still love him, goddammit!" They knew she was hurting when she spit out the curse words. Going to her, they threw comforting arms around her and shushed her. Tina rubbed her back while Kurt tugged a few squares of the toilet paper out and used them to dab her cheeks. Rachel sniffed and it took every fiber of her being to not start shaking. Quinn and Mercedes joined them and Quinn rubbed her back soothingly.

"If you love him, then why do you do this to him?" She whispered. Rachel jumped up and spun around looking at the blonde,

"W-what're you talking about, Quinn?!" Quinn gave her a knowing but sad smile,

"You leave him for a clearly good reason but completely shut him out of your life. You go to him at night in a hotel and then after an either amazing or angry conversation, leave him alone in his room while you storm down to your friends and cry. I know I haven't made the best choices but, the guy has gone through a lot. Believe me, I know. He still loves you too you know." Rachel balked at her, sinking onto the top of the toilet, "I heard him talk about you, got to see that look on his face. He would even say your name in his sleep. I even could tell he was kissing you when he was actually kissing me." She stepped over to Rachel and placed her hand on the brunettes shoulder. "You aren't the only one in pain." Mercedes and Quinn left shortly after that while Kurt stayed behind and gave Rachel a soothing facial massage. Rachel felt herself drift off into a light sleep until Kurt shook her awake.

"Girl, you need to get that man. You were moaning his name." Rachel sat up ramrod straight,

"No I wasn't." Kurt nodded as well as Tina. Rachel rolled her eyes before changing and crawling under her blankets. Kurt left after talking with Tina through a while episode of Grey's Anatomy and Rachel finally felt herself slip into a heavy sleep.

* * *

Puck sat in the dressing room with the rest of the guy's pulling on their costumes for the performance. He, as well as the other guys, felt more nervous than they had when playing football. At least, the ones who had played football. Kurt came up to him after he finished pulling on his shoes and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I was just curious as to what happened between you and Rachel last night." He said as he sat down in front of Puck, crossing his legs and steeping his fingers.

"Nothing, we practiced the song and then she left." Puck shot out as Finn and the other guys stopped doing what they were doing to give them their full attention.

"Really, because after you're "practice" she flew back into the room and broke down sobbing." Puck could feel his expression soften at the thought of that and he tried desperately to cover it up. "Don't worry, Puck. She's just emotional." Kurt smiled sadly at him as he stood and went to talk to Mr. Schuester.

"Dude, what did you and Rachel do last night?" Finn plopped down in front of him, his eyes and voice full of worry.

"Nothing okay! Like you heard Kurt, she's just emotional over today." Finn stood and stalked off, leaving Puck with his thoughts.

* * *

The lights were burning bright as the songs echoed through the air. Puck would once in a while see someone in the crowd wipe their eyes. Rachel felt her heart pounding, the song was almost over and then they would have to sing their duet. She let every sad emotion wash out of her body as she sang with more heart than she ever thought possible. They hit the last note and Rachel and Puck stepped from the group, their heads down. Rachel began to sing her part softly, making her way to the front of the stage. The song built up until they were singing so forcefully at one another, Rachel felt a tear slip out. Puck wiped it away as he sang his part; his fingers had entwined with hers like they had during the rehearsal all that time ago. As the last note hung in the air, Rachel's eyes focused on Puck's lips, but he pulled away from her and turned toward the crowd. Rachel followed him and then the slowly walked back to the group. They were done for this round. Rachel's knees were shaking as she sat with Kurt and Mercedes after their song. She could fell Puck staring at her from across the room, but she refused to look up from her salad, which felt heavy on her stomach. They had moved onto the next round. Rachel was so excited she jumped on Finn in a tight hug. It was between them and Vocal Adrenaline for first place. She released Finn and turned to the body next to him; it was Puck. She froze for a moment before wrapping her arms tightly around his middle. He hugged her back as best her could and she could feel him breathe in deeply. Mr. Schuester came up to them, his face lit up with excitement and joy as he urged them to quiet down and let out a breath.

"I am so proud of you guys. I honestly, don't care if we get First tomorrow, if we do, it's just an added bonus. I want hear you guys sing your hearts out tomorrow like how you did today. Let's head back so you all can rest and get ready for tomorrow." The ride was full of jittery talking and squeals as well as deep laughter that Rachel was proud to partake in, but she kept going off into her mind and let her eyes drift to the back of Puck's head. They practically leapt from the van with joy and Rachel and Tina sprinted up to their room. Tina was the first in the shower this time as Rachel and Kurt gossiped about the day. Rachel felt herself zone out again briefly, thinking about Puck's thumb as it grazed across her cheekbone. Kurt snapped his fingers in front of her face and she jerked, looking at him.

"You have got it bad!" he said as Tina lumbered lazily from the bathroom.

"Huh?"

"You need to go talk to him right now." Rachel shook her head,

"No, we broke up, made amends and now, we're nothing but fellow glee clubbers." Rachel said as she went to go into the bathroom,

"Your mind is talking again, Rachel." Kurt shot out as he went to her bag and began to pull out articles of clothing.

"What're you doing?"

"What your body wishes your mind would. Put these on after your shower." Rachel looked at the bundle of clothes before Kurt shoved her into the bathroom. Her shower was short and she pulled on her hipster white panties and lacy white bra. She lifted up the slightly see-through shirt that she had brought to sleep in and tugged it on as well as the small tight pair of shorts that she usually only wore when she had on her bathing suit and needed to go somewhere. She stepped back out and shook her head.

"Yes, Rachel, you're a bombshell." He whipped out some product and taking a glob on his finger, rubbed it between his palms and attacked her still wet hair with it. Tina forced her to sit as Kurt worked his magic. By the time he was done, Rachel looked like she was ready for a night on the town. Or a sexy romp in the bed. He had given her barely any make up on the eyes but what he had, made her dark eyes pop. He had put a slightly red lip gloss on her lips that also made her lips look pouty-er and he even pinched her cheeks to her dismay and made her cheeks pink. Kurt grabbed her arm and pulled her into the standing position. Tina and he practically carried her to the door and Kurt held her in place while Tina knocked. They both bolted down the hall, leaving Rachel standing there. The door whipped open again and Puck looked her up and down. She smiled slightly and she rubbed her arm,

"Can I come in?" Puck stood aside and watched her closely as she strode in and plopped on Kurt's bed again.

"Puck, we need to talk. I just wanted to tell you that, I-," She looked up at him and felt the words she was going to say, stop. "M-maybe you should start."

"I dunno what you want me to say." He muttered,

"Just say what you're thinking. We need to get passed this awkwardness that's always around us." Puck nodded and stood in front of her, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"I miss you." He said. Rachel felt her throat constrict as he stared at her, "I can't stop thinking about you even though you're with Finn. I missed the way you'd laugh over nothing, how excited you get when your favorite song would come on the radio and you had to sing along no matter what. I miss that little whimper you make when I'd stop kissing you." Puck placed his hand on either side of her as he leaned down to her, "But you're with Finn so I can't enjoy any of those things. And beside's that I'm pretty sure you still hate my guts." His hot breath cascaded over her and Rachel almost pulled him down into a kiss. He moved away from her. Rachel waited a moment then stood and went to him. She slid a hand up his shoulder and he turned around, looking at her,

"I miss you too. I miss hearing you play guitar, I miss your mom's cooking, but I especially miss what you seem to do to me when we're together." She breathed out, "And Finn and I haven't dated since Sectionals. I wish I'd never slapped you and I should have talked to you instead of running away and hiding." Puck's eyes grazed over hers momentarily before his hand slid eagerly around his waist and he pulled her into a deep kiss. She tasted better than he remembered. She was more aggressive that he remembered too. Rachel slid a hand up his chest to behind his head; she grasped his skull tightly trying to pull him closer. Puck's hand slid under her shirt and pulled it up off her body. Rachel pulled away from the kiss briefly but only so she could hook her fingers in his belt loops and tug him to the bed. In a matter of moments, they were both stripped down to their underwear and writhing under the sheets. The kisses were deep and passionate; the only person Rachel could focus on was him. He pulled away from her and sucked on her neck.

"I remembered." She sighed in his ear. She heard him mutter a 'Huh?' into her neck as he didn't stop the delicious attention on the sensitive spot, "I remembered why you said I wasn't as innocent as I want people to think." Puck thought back, that was after their hot and heavy make-out session the day after Halloween. "I remember you taking these," she gripped his hand and ran it up along her inner thigh to the junction and pressed his fingers against her cotton white panties, "and going here." She moaned. Puck could barely take it. His fingers curled around the edges of her white cloth and slipped underneath. She moaned slightly louder as she arched her back and pushed onto his digits harder. Puck smirked at the memory of her that night in that brilliant red matching panty set. He liked this better. His other hand went to her back and unhooked her bra, pulling it from her torso. Puck lowered his head to her breasts, kissing the valley slowly before going to pay much more desired attention on the sensitive breasts. Rachel curled her fingers around his strip of hair, digging her fingers gently into his scalp while her other hand scraped down his back. Puck shuddered and nudged himself between her knees, his lips leaving her breasts to travel back up to her mouth. Rachel felt the cool metal of his nipple piercing before her hand made its way down his belly before sliding under his boxers and grasping him firmly. Puck pulled his lips from hers, dropping his forehead onto her shoulder and his hips bucked involuntarily into her hand. She stayed still for a moment before sliding her hand up and down his length painstakingly slow. Puck growled and pulled her hand from him so he could discard the last two scraps of clothing.

Grabbing a condom, he eagerly (and expertly) rolled it on before going back to Rachel. She was staring at him from behind her messed up hair that seductively fell into her eyes. She was sitting up, her knees pressed together and she smiled at him, biting her lip slightly. Puck slid back onto the bed and pushed her down with his body. He ran his hand down her thigh and used it to pry apart her knees. She was being difficult and she was doing it on purpose. Puck could feel her smile into the kiss as he growled and used both of his hands so push her knees apart. His body slid between them and she wrapped the long limbs around his waist. Puck pulled away, kissing the sensitive bundle that made her moan that sat just below her ear. Rachel, in turn, ran her tongue across his ear and bit the lobe. She reached down between them and grasped him again, leading him to her entrance. Puck steadied himself before pushing in. She was hot, wet and so tight. He waited a moment before pulling out and starting to rock at a steady rhythm. Rachel gripped onto his back tightly for a while before countering his movements and kissing his bottom lip. Puck couldn't seem to get enough of her. His lips were constantly traveling from her lips and jaw to her breasts back to her neck. His hands couldn't stop moving either; Rachel felt like she was ready to burst several times just by the butterfly touches he fluttered across her skin. There it was; the euphoria was building. Puck felt it tingle in the back of his skull too as he began to thrust faster. He reached down and began to flick his callused thumb across her bundle of nerves, she squirmed and bucked harder. The euphoria shot from the back of her skull through her body as every muscle tensed and she squeezed herself around Puck; he crashed his lips over hers as she cried out into his mouth. Puck thrust a few more times before joining her; he was barely able to hold himself above her and eventually collapsed to the side. He pulled himself from her and she curled up next to him. Rachel was still writhing slightly and was moaning his name ever so slightly.

"Noah," she breathed out finally, "that was amazing." He smiled at her as he kissed her shoulder. They lay there for a moment, breathing in tandem as Puck traced lazy circles over her bare skin. Rachel sighed slightly as she felt sleep tug at her mind and she curled into his body tighter, slipping into the long awaited heavenly sleep she hadn't encountered since the last time they were together.

**Alrights! So they're back together and very steamy! ^_^ I hope you liked, I actually don't know how much longer I'm going to make this story BUT there will probably be a sequel. Maybe Senior Year? :O gasp! I dunno, anyways, again, R & R!**


	16. Epilogue

**Okays, here's my last chapter for this story, :*( But, I am in the process of deciding a sequel. I dunno when that one will get up because I am having some issues in school and will probably be spending a lot of time getting my grades back to an acceptable level. Anyways, enough of me jibber-jabbering:**

**The Epilogue of "If I Were a Boy".**

Rachel woke up around midnight at the sound of the door opening. A rush of memories flooded her mind and she almost leapt from the bed to grab up her clothes. Until she saw who was standing there. Kurt's jaw was on the floor as he stared at them, buck naked in Puck's destroyed bed. He glanced around once and pinched himself hard before looking back.

"I'm sorry, I'll just go and sleep in your and Tina's room. Don't mind me. I was never here." He muttered before turning and hurrying out of the room. Puck chuckled sleepily as he dragged his fingertips over her bare arm.

"Hey, Noah?" Rachel leaned back into the pillows, wishing her heart rate would return to normal.

"Hmm?" he rumbled, his lips grazing her neck.

"Why did you think Finn and I were still together? You had to have known that we broke up, I mean, it is high school." She felt him shift behind her so she was pressed partially against his bare chest.

"To be honest," she could feel the vibrations from his words rumble into her body, "I tuned anything out that had to do with you and Finn. I had lost you to him and didn't want to hear any of it." He said into her hair, which she was almost certain smelled like sweat. But what she didn't know was that he loved it. They were silent again; her drawing imaginary pictures on his arms that were wrapped tightly around her body while he leaned his cheek against her head, slowly drifting back off into sleep.

"Hey Noah?" she murmured again. He grunted slightly to acknowledge that he was listening to her question,

"What was her name?" Puck's blood went cold and he felt that wound in his heart rip open again. He was silent for a while, trying to build up the courage to do say her name,

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I don't know what I was thinking asking you this-,"

"Her name was Abigail." He cut her off. Rachel stopped completely and tightly gripped his arm as he took in another breath, "I'm pretty sure you know what all happened?"

"Quinn carried her almost to term, she was only about a month early, but her body was severely premature." Rachel muttered out. She could feel the pain radiating off of Puck as he nodded,

"She was pink and healthy, but the doctors said that she was about as developed as a baby in the middle of the second trimester. She-," Puck was choking on his tears as they filled his eyes. Rachel twisted around and wrapped her arms tightly around his body as best she could.

"It's okay. I don't need to know anymore." She whispered out and Puck let out a shuddering breath. He took in another deep one as he stared at the pattern on the comforter.

"Quinn was really out of it after that. Abby really changed her." Rachel agreed with that statement completely. When she and Finn had broken up and Rachel and him started to go out, things were about as rocky with them as they had been before Quinn had started Glee. Quinn had taken up calling her nasty names, vandalizing her locker and notebooks, along with numerous other things. Rachel didn't understand why she was being punished for Quinn's philandering though. She held onto the grudge though, until her fathers' told her one night that she shouldn't hate Quinn Fabray, but forgive her because she would need the support when the baby came, even from someone who she clearly hated.

Rachel was slightly surprised when Quinn and Puck had decided they would try dating for the baby's sake. But Puck knew that she would always want Finn. Then, she went into labor and Abigail passed away. Puck and she had broken up shortly after that even though she would still come over to his house and cry herself to sleep in his arms.

Rachel and Finn were happily dating, but Rachel felt a distance from Finn that she knew was because of Quinn. He would stare at her and Puck but apologize almost immediately to her even if Rachel didn't notice. Of course, what he didn't know what that she was staring at Puck at the same time. They broke up after Sectionals and they knew that they would never fit together like how Rachel had always dreamed, but they remained in a plutonic relationship. But, to anyone who didn't know, they looked like they were still dating, minus any kissing or hand holding.

Rachel stroked her hand down Puck's arm again, tracing the muscles. He tightened his hold on her and breathed into her neck,

"Are you worried about tomorrow?" He muttered; she felt his grip loosen, he was falling asleep.

"Not in the least."

**Alright, so I know you don't find out if they win Regional's or not, but I am not predicting that in any way shape or form because I am leaving that up to the real writers of that fine TV show. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it (except for the writer's block once in a while) and I hope to get your reviews soon. And to get the sequel up too! ^_^ **_**Ciao!**_


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